The things we have in this country were given to us by God, not by government. — Perry: Government isn’t your savior, Nick Gass, Politico, today Social Security and Medicare were given to us by God? Who knew? The highway system, sewer and water systems, airports and air traffic control, operation of shipping ports, public […]
Via Steve Benen and Greg Sargent. The Washington Post/ABC News pollsters asked “Do you think the federal government should or should not pursue policies that try to reduce the gap between wealthy and less well-off Americans?”. 62% of respondents answered yes. This should be very unsurprising as it is roughly the same as the fraction […]
In the news, great attention has been paid to the activities of fast food workers striking to increase their salary up from minimum wage, their plight with fast food restaurants, and their heavy reliance on public assistance to get-by. Included with fast restaurant workers whose employers are represented by the National Restaurant Association are full […]
In about one month, the US Supreme Court will announce a decision on King Vs Burwell in which the plaintiffs argue that subsidies may not be paid to people who purchased health insurance on exchanges operated by the US Federal Government. The risk that they will win terrifies, among others, Senator Ronald Johnson (R-Wisconsin) who […]
by Joseph Joyce Morality Tales and Capital Flows When the Federal Reserve finally raises its interest rate target, it will be one of the most widely anticipated policy moves since the Fed responded to the global financial crisis. The impact on emerging markets, which have already begun to see reversals of the inflows of capital […]
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said, among other things, For this reason, if the economy continues to improve as I expect, I think it will be appropriate at some point this year to take the initial step to raise the federal funds rate target and begin the process of normalizing monetary policy. To support taking this […]
The Effective Demand limit upon the economy is not a very visible concept in the econo-blogosphere. Yet, it represents a limit upon the utilization of labor and capital toward the end of a business cycle. When real GDP reaches its effective demand limit, normally we would see capacity utilization peak and start to fall. Capacity […]
A number of authors (Good Jobs First, David Cay Johnston, me, and me, among others) have pointed out that data centers (aka server farms) in the United States create very few jobs, yet receive state and local government subsidies that routinely exceed $1 million per job. I’m sure you already know that numbers like those […]
The graph implies that as labor share falls, labor is less inclined to supply its labor… and the natural rate of unemployment rises. (link to Fred graph) Since 1947, the unemployment rate falls to a level consistent with implied supply & demand limits set by labor share. The US now seems to be reaching the […]
The meme is ubiquitous, and widely documented: Rich people work longer hours. Obvious implication: they deserve what they get, right? Ditto the poor. Bunk. Why? All the research supporting that meme looks at workers, not families. It completely ignores students, the retired, and anyone else who isn’t working. Alert the media: workers work more than non-workers. And, news flash: rich families […]