The precariat is the growing class of insecure workers whose wages and working conditions do not provide economic stability. It ought to be getting more attention in American political discourse. I have urged mainstream journalists covering labor issues to use the term, which is increasingly being used in Europe. Several reporters have told me […]

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Utah hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since LBJ’s landslide 50 years ago, but the Beehive State now stands at the cutting edge of one progressive policy. It’s on course to wipe out chronic homelessness, those without shelter for more than a year, usually with a disability, by next year. How? By giving away […]

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(Source: CNNMoney) The Republicans are giddy after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a new report suggesting as many as 1 million jobs might be lost if the federal minimum wages goes from $7.25 per hour to $10.10, as proposed by President Barack Obama. Indeed, that sounds like a lot. Why focus on wages when […]

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The Republicans give various reasons for their opposition to the Affordable Care Act, but only two matter. One has been obvious since Obamacare became law, but the other was revealed just recently. In this revelation, it’s clear the Republicans are on even shakier ground than they already were. As the country continues to feel the […]

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(Source: The Gazette) Back when I first studied economics, we “proved” in class that a minimum wage causes unemployment. You just draw supply and demand curves for labor, add a horizontal line for a wage above the “market clearing” competitive equilibrium wage, and—bingo!—a gap appears between labor supply and labor demand. Employers routinely violate current […]

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