Economy and Business
Heads They Win, Tails We Lose
The Un-American Way
The United States is negotiating a NAFTA-style trade deal that should be alarming to American consumers. The main reason it's not getting much attention is that the mainstream media is largely ignoring it. This pact deserves more news coverage. It threatens to...
In America’s West, Equality Takes a Hit
In The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Us Stronger, the landmark 2009 book on the impact of deep economic divides on our daily lives, the surprise societal star — at least for most American readers — turns out to be the state of Utah. On all sorts of measures...
How to Move Millions into the Middle Class
President Barack Obama is pledging to make the rest of his time in office about "making this country work for working Americans again." That means one branch of government is on the case. After rejecting White House proposals to create good jobs that would rebuild our...
The Devil Is in the Taxes
While pretty much everybody agrees that the U.S. tax code is a mess, nobody does anything about it. Oh, politicians talk about doing something, but mainly what they do is make it worse. There's a reason for this. You. You're the reason. People, alas, tend to be greedy...
The Bezillionaire Times
Amazon's bezillionaire CEO is buying The Washington Post, America's second-most prestigious daily newspaper. Jeff Bezos only had to pay $250 million, less than 1 percent of his $28 billion personal fortune. Has plutocracy finally overwhelmed our press? Some veteran...
Blowing the Whistle on Philanthropy
Inequality has a silver lining. At least the awesomely affluent think so. If we didn't have grand fortunes, their claim goes, we wouldn't have grand philanthropy. No foundations and handsome bequests for underwriting good causes. No gifts and grants by the tens and...
Why I’m Fed Up with Summers
Will America ever get rid of Robert Rubin? The Wall Streeter became a top economic witch doctor for Bill Clinton in the 1990s. During his tenure, he convinced old Gullible Bill to Drop his campaign promise to help working families by raising the minimum wage. Push...
Exploited by Your Tax Dollars
McDonald's really stepped in it this summer when the fast food empire created a budget for its underpaid employees to help them make ends meet on the low wages they bring home after flipping burgers all week. At first, the McBudget didn't include any money for food or...
The Real IRS Scandal
For weeks, we watched Representative Darrell Issa and the conservative media circus concoct a "scandal" surrounding the IRS's handling of applications by tea party groups for tax-exempt status. The California Republican and his allies then sought to tie the Obama...
