Blogs: An Economy for All

Last week, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke announced a dramatic new commitment of the Fed to keep long term interest rates low in the hope of boosting employment and economic growth.

In doing so, Bernanke issued a wake up call to the Congress and to both presidential campaigns. It’s a Jobs Cliff, not just a fiscal cliff. more »

More »»

Note see also Is This Why Romney Won't Talk To Sensata Workers Whose Jobs Are Being Shipped To China? more »

More »»

Originally posted at Capital Gains and Games.

Bruce Bartlett emailed me to say that, rather than cancel the sequester as I recommended, we should get the band back together and reconstitute the anything-but-super committee to give it another chance to come up with a deficit reduction plan.

Sorry, Bruce...But I just don't see the need to go there yet again.

How many federal budget commissions, special committees, advisory groups, and private negotiations do we need to fail before we admit they don't work? Think about just the past few years: The Biden-Cantor negotiations, the Obama-Boehner summit negotiations, the B-S (that is, Simpson-Bowles) commission, the anything-but-super committee, the gang of six -- fail, fail, fail, fail, fail.

Again? Really?

more »

More »»

Things you learn from Mitt Romney:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Is $100,000 middle income?

MITT ROMNEY: No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less.

What a funny out of touch rich man: more »

More »»

• On the menu this morning
• MORNING MESSAGE: So Who Is It That Cares About The Deficit Anyway?
• Fed's Economic Booster Shot
• The Middle-Class Struggle For Survival
• Chicago Teacher Strike Update
• Breakfast Sides

More »»

There's one thing I forgot to mention in my previous post, "10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class": We already know how to rebuild the middle class. We've done it before. One way we built the middle class was to "Give unemployed job seekers a real, fresh start," which is one of the ten steps in the report, "10 Ways To Rebuild The Middle Class For Hardworking Americans." Back then, those unemployed job seekers happened to be in uniform, and America gave them a real fresh start with something called the GI Bill.

Today, a chance to give unemployed veterans a real, fresh start is stalled out in the Senate and going nowhere in the House.

More »»

Few individuals or organizations have been as influential as Mitt Romney and Bain Capital in worsening our runaway healthcare costs, causing unnecessary suffering, or accelerating our government's long-term deficit problem. Their highly leveraged investment strategy puts healthcare companies under enormous pressure to increase revenue. They often respond by overbilling -- or worse, by encouraging unnecessary medical treatments that can include anything from non-invasive tests to heart surgery.

I spent many years working in healthcare economics: running health service companies, projecting health plan costs for governments and employers, and analyzing healthcare investments. I've reviewed hospital bills in detail and seen shocking things: Thousands of dollars for bandages and gauze during a surgery; a 12,000-percent markup on ointments; a $250 charge for the lightbulb in a projector the hospital claimed was used during surgery.

I've seen hucksters put red filters over an ordinary flashlight, call it an "infrared" healing device, and charge insurance companies or hapless patients for their use. And I've seen hundreds of cases of human tragedy brought on by unnecessary surgeries performed solely for money. I can't say I was always on the side of the angels, but I can say this: Before Bain, I had never seen behavior that was as consistently bad as we're seeing today.

More »»

On the menu this morning:

• MORNING MESSAGE: 10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class
• Poverty and Inequality
• Chicago Showdown
• Romney's Latest Lie
• Mid-East Turmoil Spreads
• Ballot Box Bullies

More »»

The middle class is the great engine of the American economy, but today that engine is sputtering. Our economic crisis is one half of a vicious cycle in which it and the unemployment crisis feed and perpetuate one another, hollowing out the middle-class in the process.

Middle-class wages are their lowest in 17 years. Too many workers are toiling in jobs that don’t pay enough to support families, and too many can’t find work at all. Meanwhile, the jobs that will grow the most in the next decade are expected to be low-wage and stripped of benefits. What passes as America's economic "recovery" is awash in low-wage jobs.

More »»

Teachers in Chicago are on strike. You will hear from the usual anti-government, anti-union crowd that this is another instance of greedy public employees trying to get more money, but that is just wrong and here's why. more »

More »»