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Open thread May 10, 2016

Dan Crawford | May 10, 2016 8:17 am

Tags: open thread Comments (7) | Digg Facebook Twitter |
7 Comments
  • Denis Drew says:
    May 10, 2016 at 10:46 am

    RE: The Economist as…?: The Public Square and Economists – Brad DeLong
    http://www.bradford-delong.com/2016/05/the-economist-as-the-public-square-and-economists.html

    ” But you have nearly no ability to evaluate what you hear. “

    But you can listen to your union leaders if you only had them. They are your advocates (as in an advocacy system) — and they usually know enough economics to know what to do next.

    It’s usually all about checks and balances anyway (advocacy economics?).

    It is unnatural and a pathological condition — ipso facto — not to have collective bargaining. This unnatural state is itself a result of missing checks and balances. There are no consequences at all for muscling workers in the American labor market.

    Solution (to all this): (simply) make union busting a felony — necessarily backed by RICO so employers cannot play at union busting for a while after laws are passed to see what they can get away with (thereby building up the “continuing” part of the indictment).

    Easiest place to start — the progressive states: WA, OR, CA, NV, IL, NY, MD.

    More people might listen to economists if economist were pushing this simple solution to most all of our economic and political troubles (think Germany).

    RE: “The end of American meritocracy – FT.com ”
    http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c17d402a-12cf-11e6-839f-2922947098f0.html?ftcamp=published_links%2Frss%2Fcomment%2Ffeed%2F%2Fproduct#axzz485TwpE97

    Again, not a problem in Germany with 16% college — but where auto manufacturing workers earn $60 an hour because they are (have themselves trained because they have so much market power) trained and retrained to be more and more productive — not in Germany which manufactures ten times as many vehicles per person as the US and sells nine of them abroad.

    Meanwhile Boeing is building its 787 Dreamliner wings and fuselage in Italy and Japan. A German level-unionized economy would never allow that to happen here.

    Crazy problem: the US has an enormous immigrant population (have 5 Irish grandparents counting my mother’s stepmother myself) which is to naturally willing to work for less. Throw that into our labor market malestorm and minimum wage jobs have been effectively outsourced to Mexico and India and my old taxi job (28 years in NYC, Chi, SF) has been outsourced all over the world.

    Meantime, back at American born worker homes 100,000 out of (my guesstimate) 200,000 Chicago gang age males are in street gangs because they wont work for SECOND-WORLD WAGES. Chicago has 60% minority population (40% white, 40% black, 20% Hispanic). That makes for 30% of gang age Chicago males stuck at the bottom. Saw the statement that half of Chicago black males are out of work the other day (I think in Crain’s Chicago business) — fits this.

    Nothing is being done. Simple solution: rebuild a healthy labor market (and healthy politics) where workers can test to see how much the consumer will pay. Wont put immigrants out of work — the economy expands to fit new workers — ask any economist — oops; that’s where we came into this movie.

  • Denis Drew says:
    May 10, 2016 at 11:03 am

    99% of African Americans to vote? — just donate one hour every two years

    A thought just starting to germinate in my mind: you know how in Chicago our political parties used to pay citizens $10-20 to vote. First, I thought of getting out the African-American vote — and I’m thinking 99% — by pointing out that if they all voted they would benefit thousands of dollars a year in government paybacks.

    I started out thinking African-American because they are so classically left out of so much government concern whether it’s second-class schools, unconscionable medical care (I went to Stroger emergency once before I got Medicare — practically in the heart of downtown here — so-called “fast track” was 10 hours, for chest pain, difficulty breathing and obstetrics; everyone else waited 24 hours, maybe should sign in and come back tomorrow), lead in the water, intrusive policing, etc., etc.

    Then I thought of 99% African-American voting as donating one hour of time to a movement every two years — to get the politicians coming on their knees to find out what people want. Seems like an irresistible appeal, doesn’t it? Donate one hour of your time, change your whole world for yourself and your family.

    50% voting is getting them nothing (well the Post Office delivers). !00% would raise such a “scary” political organization specter that it could have the effect of 150%.

    Then of course other minorities or whomever would follow suit. One way to take the country back from the oligarchs. Just starting to germinate.

    PS. Mmm; still thinking. Imagine if we paid say $100 to vote to the last hold-outs — or if we Go Funded that. Have to leave cash incentive for last so we don’t look untoward (smacks of the bad old days) — by the end it would just look like more of the fun.

    PPS. Maybe African American voters can save Hillary from “Never-Hillarys” — just like they saved her from Bernie. :-0

  • Marko says:
    May 10, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    It wasn’t a total wipeout for Carly – she landed a new book deal :

    http://65.media.tumblr.com/d859bb5b63a1a82e28b11cf89509bd2e/tumblr_o6pwmyW2vM1v79z73o1_1280.jpg

  • Marko says:
    May 10, 2016 at 7:19 pm

    Bernie rocks system , shakes down contested confection :

    http://usuncut.com/politics/bernie-sanders-stephen-colbert/

  • Marko says:
    May 10, 2016 at 7:28 pm

    Krugman is mad because the BernieBros are looking at him funny.

    HillaryHos have other ideas :

    ” Trolls are trying to trick Bernie Sanders supporters into blowing themselves up ”

    http://www.newschannel5.com/news/national/meme-targeted-to-bernie-sanders-supporters-is-actually-directions-for-a-homemade-bomb

  • Marko says:
    May 10, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    Kevin Drum , one of the many guard-dog blogs defending the mainstream neoliberal economic model , tries to please his masters by biting the ankles of the EPI commies , and instead bites himself in the ass :

    http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/05/unemployment-among-young-high-school-grads-ispretty-much-normal-these-days

    See this FRED graph and you’ll see that he didn’t read the article carefully and that it’s perfectly consistent with the FRED data , contrary to Drum’s protestations :

    https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=4rsX

    Th NYT article in question :

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/business/economy/its-a-tough-job-market-for-the-young-without-college-degrees.html?ribbon-ad-idx=12&rref=homepage&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Home%20Page&pgtype=article

  • William Ryan says:
    May 11, 2016 at 9:28 am

    In my view high unemployment amongst our young does not have to become the new normal. If we all recognize that all new wealth creation comes from making, growing or mining something then we can recreate our economy with the ripple effect to do those things. More citizens will be back working paying in more taxes to the government and creating greater GDP. But today when Atlas shrugs, Jesus cries because big gov has gotten lazy, crazy and wasteful with our money…As for the Parato 80-20 rule, we need a president and are in an economic situation now that cannot be risking being wrong on the economy by 20% of the time. We now must be right economically confidence interval of at least by 94% of the time economically just to survive…

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