Matt Taibbi is succinct on the reported but not final agreement among state AG’s on the mortgage settlement: I think the best summation of the settlement is probably Yves Smith’s, which can be found here. The piece lists the 12 things that suck the most about the settlement. The most painful is probably #12: 12. […]

Last week, Dan posted what had been an email message I sent him in response to a link he’d sent me to an article by Thom Hartmann on Truthout about the Supreme Court’s infamous Citizens United opinion.  The key (consecutive) paragraphs of Hartmann’s piece, which I quoted in my email/post, were: Most Americans don’t realize […]

by Linda Beale Finance moves transportation bill–revenue sources at issue Senate Finance committee approved on a 17-6 vote the transportation financing proposal (13 Dems and 5 GOP voting yes; the GOP were Snowe, Crapo, Roberts and Thune).The GOP –Jon Kyl a favorite spokesperson–claimed that the Committee’s rush had “lost the opportunity to have a truly […]

Any knowledgeable economist will tell you that GDP (or GDP/capita) is a profoundly imperfect and non-inclusive measure of national well-being.In particular, GDP doesn’t count any work isn’t paid for with money — painting your mom’s house, volunteering for the Rotary Club or your church (David Brooks, are you listening?), caring for your kids and your […]

by run 75441 “The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens “That’s Baloney” stated Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, Alabama; the immigration bill cosponsor, told the Huntsville Times. “It’s clear the study over estimates the negative and under estimates the positive to skew the result toward an agenda,” […]

by Rebecca Wilder Unfounded Obsession With the Greek Minimum Wage The Greek minimum wage is apparently a point of contention between the Troika (ECB/EU/IMF) and the Greek government. The NY Times cites competitiveness gains as a rationale for the minimum wage cut: The goal of any pay cuts would be to help make Greek workers, […]

Yesterday there was a post about the participation rate that displayed a widespread misunderstanding of what the data actually shows. The labor force and the participation rate have been falling since the great recession. The following table shows that for the last three years the participation rate and the labor force have been falling when […]

Naked Capitalism posts today on the AG agreement in Settlement Breakdown by State Plus Other Official Propaganda: This agreement is very significant in how it addresses the fraud that these banks committed against many homeowners across our state,” said ___.“ This agreement not only provides much needed relief to (STATE) [Ha ha, fill in the […]

Yves comments on Wired’s Embarrassing Whitewash of Foxconn : But Johnson admits he’s a tech toy writer who apparently has no knowledge of manufacturing …. Yet he’s remarkably uninhibited in using his fantasies and abject ignorance as a basis for making sweeping generalizations about the Taiwanese powerhouse.…I find this little chart (hat tip Richard Smith) from […]