Economy and Business
Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime for a CEO?
Wall Street buccaneer Carl Icahn has pocketed billions for his himself over the years. But now he says he's passionate about helping others. In particular, the corporate-takeover specialist is pushing a charitable cause for people who, through no fault of their own,...
Winning the Fight for $15 in 2016
Millions of low-paid Americans rang in 2016 with a raise, as a handful of state minimum wage increases went into effect on the first day of January. Many of those raises are a barely noticeable 15 or 20 cents an hour — little comfort to people struggling to make ends...
When College Athletes Do the Corporate Hustle
For thrilling sports action on television, it's hard to top the sheer excitement of bowling, isn't it? No, not that game with 10 pins. I’m talking about the passion and pageantry of college football's bowl season. America's elite, powerhouse teams are rewarded for...
The GOP’s Pro-Corporate Prescription
The conventional wisdom in Washington is that tax breaks for corporations lead to economic growth. Tax assistance for working families, on the other hand, may help them make ends meet, but it doesn’t have much impact on the economy. The conventional wisdom has it...
Broadband Rates Are Too Damn High
As the digital revolution hurtles ahead, low-income communities across the United States aren’t reaping many of its benefits. The less you make, the less likely it is that you’re hooked up at home. This is especially true if you lack a high school diploma. And the...
For-Profit Colleges Are Scandal Machines
The nation's for-profit, private college industry is a study in horror. Start with the fact that it actually calls itself an "industry." Excuse me, but education is a social investment — not an industrial product. Next, this so-called "private" industry depends almost...
A Chip Off the Old Pharmaberg
Partnering with the Devil
As a raker of muck, it's my job to root out the nefarious doings and innate immorality of the corporate creature. But these days I'm being rendered obsolete by how ordinary corporate nefariousness has become. The wrongdoings of major corporations, and even entire...
Millennials Better Start Thinking About Retirement
I’m only 24, but I signed up for the 401(k) plan at work as soon as I qualified. I’m privileged to have a responsible employer and to belong a union that fought for its members’ right to enjoy decent retirement benefits. Many of my friends aren’t so lucky. My employer...
For Sale: Obscene Monuments to Mammon
The uber-rich like to collect trophies as proof of their unsurpassed uberness. These aren’t like the tacky brass trophy you won in a bowling tournament. No, no — global ultra-billionaires compete ferociously with each other in their extreme wealth games to have the...
