From the New York Times comes this note a way to rent a car for short time periods and convenience. I am not personally acquainted with this system, although I have used Zip cars. Car sharing has been around for decades in Europe and has caught on in the United States with Zipcar. These station-based […]
by Linda Beale Redistribution and public production of public goods–not “let the markets handle it” In recent posts, the Importance of Distribution and Markets, Minimum Wages, and the Sins of Friedmania, I have noted the centrality to sustainable democratic institutions of corraling the market so that the power and wealth of the elite few does […]
by Linda Beale UK Territories to sign OECD Tax Info-Sharing Agreement, Reveal Beneficial Owners The UK’s David Cameron announced that Britain’s 10 crown dependencies and overseas territories–Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Jersey, Gilbraltar, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, and the British Virgin Islands–would sign on to the OECD’s multilateral convention on Mutual Administrative […]
by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care Thoughts: Tenet Buys Vanguard, Wave of the Future? The three most frequently used words in health care strategy today are: Integration – more providers employed by hospitals, networks and corporate providers Consolidation – networks and corporate providers getting larger Alignment – trying to develop business models that make […]
Real wages decline by Kenneth Thomas Speaking of inequality by Kenneth Thomas Wage stickiness coming unglued. And an op ed by David Cay Johnston this last week: Breaking news alert! Wages fell at the fastest rate ever recorded during the first quarter of this year, the government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Hourly wages fell 3.8 […]
by Linda beale Market Power, Minimum Wages, and the Sins of Friedmania Two items caught my attention in today’s (June 22) newspapers and they represent diametrically opposed positions on what matters in society. One, by Paul Krugman, deals with the problems of monopoly rents–especially in industries in which there is very little production in this […]
by Linda Beale The importance of redistribution I have dedicated ataxingmatter to a concept I call “democratic egalitarianism”–the idea that individuals flourish best in a free society that allows them to choose democratically the rules that govern their lives, with the understanding that the institutions must be sustainable and must allow all individuals to flourish, […]
by Linda Beale The Tax Code Ain’t Nearly So Big as Often Claimed I can’t resist pointing readers to tax professor Jim Maule’s excellent post chastising everybody–from those obviously slanted propaganda-tank tax gurus Chris Edwards (you all know him as the purported tax expert from the right-wing pseudo-libertarian Cato Institute, whose other associate, Dan Mitchell, […]