Category: Economy
The Ground Game Behind the Fight to Raise the Minimum Wage
by | Aug 5, 2013 | Economy(Fast-food workers walk out on July 30 in Detroit | Source: Detroit Free Press) Libya Moore typically spends Wednesdays at home in Pittsburgh taking care of her infant daughters. But on July 24, she found herself in a Target store, the lead singer in a dance that she dubbed the “Target Shuffle.” The song, a […]
Expect Larry Summers to Protect the Status Quo
by Jeff Madrick | Aug 1, 2013 | Economy(Larry Summers | Kevin Moloney/Flickr/Creative Commons) The reason Larry Summers has become a leading candidate for Federal Reserve chairman is because President Obama is now leaning his way. No, I don’t have direct proof of that, but some journalists claim they have heard this from insiders. And the reason this is credible is that Obama […]
Why Pension Hawks Endanger Us All
by Darwin Bondgraham | Jul 29, 2013 | Economy(Kevyn Orr | Source: Fox News Sunday) Detroit’s bankruptcy and a high profile lawsuit in San Jose highlight a nationwide effort led by fiscal conservatives to undo the basic promise embodied in public employee pensions—a guaranteed, defined retirement benefit. If they succeed in unraveling public pensions, as they have to retirement benefits offered by private […]
Money Is Free to Move Across Borders, So Why Not People?
by Alejandro Reuss | Jul 26, 2013 | EconomyIn this age of mass migration, U.S. immigration policy has mixed relative openness to immigration (since 1965) with nativist hostility toward immigrants. On the state level, we have seen a wave of anti-immigrant legislation (like the Arizona “papers, please” law). On the federal level, the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border coupled with spasms of […]
The Fight to Raise the Minimum Wage Goes Local
by Darwin Bondgraham | Jul 26, 2013 | Economy(Image courtesy of Just Economics) Residents of the small city of SeaTac, Washington, will vote in November on a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. If approved, it would surpass the highest minimum wage in the country, San Francisco’s $10.55, by $4.45. Home of Washington’s biggest airport and thousands of […]