Economy and Business
Working Until It’s Time for Your Grave
“My plan is just to work until I die.” That’s how my mom sums up her retirement prospects. She’s worked more than 40 hours a week as a legal secretary in north Florida for as long as I can remember. When my brother and I were kids, we went to her office every Saturday...
Don’t Be a Fossil-Foolish Investor
Investors who choose to steer clear of oil, gas, and coal are protecting their portfolios in the short term and the long run. Who has divested lately? The fast-growing list includes the University of California, insurance giant Allianz, the German city of Munster, and...
Put This Coal Kingpin in the Stocks
Disgraced coal baron Don Blankenship didn't get what he deserves in his recent federal trial. But he richly deserves what he got. “Guilty,” declared all 12 West Virginia jurors, who convicted this arrogant and avaricious former CEO of Massey Energy of willfully...
Have We Hit Peak Inequality?
When should we be alarmed about so much wealth in so few hands? The Great Recession and its anemic recovery only deepened the economic inequality that's drawn so much attention in its wake. Nearly all wealth and income gains since then have flowed to the top one-tenth...
Stop Shopping, Start Living
Imagine if retailers held a nationwide super-spectacular sales day — and no one came. I don't mean customers. Picture sales staff, cashiers, and even managers not showing up to open the doors for the usual frenzy of mass, crass, crazy consumerism. Maybe it’s silly —...
The Golden Years Gap
Flo, the Progressive insurance pitch woman in the white uniform and headband, is relentlessly perky. She won't be when she learns about the double standard that lets her CEO sock away millions more for retirement than she can. Whereas the Flos of the working world...
Can Jeb Bush Even Spell Integrity?
If you're a presidential aspirant and you have to tell people you’re a person of integrity, chances are you're not. Those odds get worse if you have to hire someone else to attest to your honor. How intriguing, then, that Kristy Campbell — a spokeswoman for Jeb Bush's...
Is GDP Over?
Crossposted from Inequality.org. Organizers of October’s fifth OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge, and Policy could barely contain their sense of satisfaction when the three-day event opened in Guadalajara, Mexico. Why all the good cheer? Officials at the...
Pay Fair or Pay Up
Have you ever complained about the cost of funding social programs for the poor? Then you should support a living wage for workers. That’s the message supporters of the Responsible Business Act are sending employers in Chicago. The bill would charge Cook County...
Obama’s Unholy Trade Policy
Pope Francis waxed radical on several big issues in his speech to Congress last September. He condemned the arms trade, called for climate action, and challenged lawmakers to protect the most vulnerable among us. It was wonderful. But for some reason, there was one...
