Economy and Business
United States of Walmart
Crushing College Dreams
As graduation season swings into high gear, a new economic crisis confronts thousands of this year’s high school and college grads — crushing college student loan debt.
No Country for Rich Men
Back in 1863, a short story took the American reading public by storm. Edward Everett Hale’s The Man without a Country told the tale of a poor treasonous soul sentenced to spend the rest of his life endlessly sailing the seven seas, in perpetual exile, as a prisoner aboard Navy warships.
Bank of America’s Healthier Roots
The father of Bank of America wouldn’t recognize it today. The “built-to-last” institution he founded has turned into a “built-to-loot” operation obsessed with short-term gains.
Amadeo P. Giannini built Bank of America into the first nationwide financial institution. The Italian American’s success hinged on his determination to challenge the notion that banks should benefit society’s wealthiest members.
Coddling the 10 Percent
Another way that the rich are different from you and me is that their bankers serve them freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies.
USS Excess
Wall Street’s Speed Freaks
The power suits making billions off the stock market are always trying to assure us that their trading serves a socially redeeming purpose. They steer money to companies and industries that make our economy more productive, they claim.
Grassroots Victory
A coalition of some of the world’s biggest and greediest corporations, which lobbied to shift their tax burden from themselves to America’s fast-disappearing middle class, is no more.
Shortchanging America
Verizon shareholders gathering in Huntsville, Alabama at the company’s annual meeting on May 3 will be greeted by large crowds of protesters. The nation’s second-largest telecom company became the latest target of the 99 Percent Power campaign — a national network of grassroots and national advocacy organizations — by demanding huge concessions from workers, avoiding state and federal taxes, and lavishing its CEOs with bloated pay packages.
The Class of 2012’s Choice
Millions of college graduates will soon walk across the stage to accept their diplomas. Given the harsh reality of today’s economy, here’s the commencement speech I’d like to deliver to the class of 2012.
