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The Jobs Report, and Why the Recovery Has Stalled by Robert B. Reich, robertreich.org | February 1, 2013
We are in the most anemic recovery in modern history, yet our political leaders in Washington aren’t doing squat about it. In fact, apart from the Fed – which continues to hold interest rates down in the quixotic hope that banks will begin lending again to average people – the government is heading in exactly the wrong direction: raising taxes on the middle class, and cutting spending. read more »New Poll: America's Workers Soundly Reject Social Security Benefit Cuts by Jackie Tortora, aflcio.org | February 1, 2013
The "chained" CPI is a Social Security benefit cut (not an innocuous "adjustment"), and the majority of voters understand this, with 55% opposing this policy proposal. A new poll, Strengthening Social Security: What Do Americans Want? from the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), highlights working people's opposition to benefit cuts, including the "chained" CPI, which reduces the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). A large majority, 64%, thought the COLA should be increased to better protect seniors and other beneficiaries from inflation and rising prices of food, utilities and other necessities. read more »Looking for Mister Goodpain by Paul Krugman, The New York Times | February 1, 2013
Three years ago, a terrible thing happened to economic policy, both here and in Europe. Although the worst of the financial crisis was over, economies on both sides of the Atlantic remained deeply depressed, with very high unemployment. Yet the Western world’s policy elite somehow decided en masse that unemployment was no longer a crucial concern, and that reducing budget deficits should be the overriding priority. In recent columns, I’ve argued that worries about the deficit are, in fact, greatly exaggerated. Today, however, I’d like to talk about a different but related kind of desperation: the frantic effort to find some example, somewhere, of austerity policies that succeeded. For the advocates of fiscal austerity — the austerians — made promises as well as threats: austerity, they claimed, would both avert crisis and lead to prosperity. And let nobody accuse the austerians of lacking a sense of romance; in fact, they’ve spent years looking for Mr. Goodpain. read more »Good News On Jobs: Growth Was Steady To Start The Year, And 2012 Was Better Than First Thought by Neil Irwin, The Washington Post | February 1, 2013
The economy began the year with solid job creation, and the labor market was much stronger at the end of 2012 than previously thought, according to new data out Friday that indicated surprising momentum in the economy in the new year. Employers added 157,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department said, which was right in line with analyst expectations. The brightest news, though, was that revised estimates showed much higher job creation at the end of last year than first reported. The nation added a whopping 247,000 jobs in November and 196,000 in December, a combined 127,000 jobs above earlier estimates. read more »Jobs on Jobs on Jobs on Jobs by Jamelle Bouie, prospect.org | February 1, 2013
According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy created 157,000 jobs in January, a solid number, though behind what we need to see a robust recovery. More important, as always, are the revisions. November’s job growth was revised to 247,000 (up from 161,000) and December’s was revised to 196,000 (up from 155,000). These are big revisions, and when analyzed as part of a trend, it’s clear that the government was been underestimating job growth for most of 2012, to the tune of 28,000 jobs a month. read more »At This Pace, The U.S. Won't Get Back To Full Employment Until 2022 by Brad Plumer, The Washington Post | February 1, 2013
The jobs numbers have been crunched and re-crunched, and it turns out that the U.S. economy added an average of 181,000 jobs per month in 2012. That’s a faster rate than in previous years. But it’s also relatively sluggish, given the deep, deep hole the economy is still in. If the United States keeps adding 181,000 jobs per month, then it will take nine years and three months to get back to full employment, according to the Hamilton Project’s jobs calculator. read more »The Idiocy of Sequestration by Matthew Yglesias, slate.com | January 31, 2013
With all feel-good talk about immigration reform, fans of conflict and dysfunction may fear the arrival of genuine bipartisanship in Washington. Not to worry! Another budget crisis is almost upon us! This time it’s not the dread fiscal cliff or the debt ceiling, but rather the “sequester”—the extremely crude cutting mechanism that essentially nobody favors but that seems likely to happen anyway. It’ll drag down the economy, impair the functioning of the government across the board, and do nothing to improve America’s fiscal sustainability over the long run. Here’s what you need to know. read more »Government Is Hurting The Economy — By Spending Too Little by Ezra Klein, The Washington Post | January 31, 2013
You’ve heard this before: The government is holding the economy back. And it’s true. But exactly what the government is doing to hold the economy back might surprise you. Typically, when people say the government is hurting the recovery, they mean that deficits are too high and uncertainty over future policy is scaring businesses. But there’s little evidence of that. It’s not because government is spending too much, or because of concerns over future policy. It’s because government, at all levels, is spending and investing too little. Despite the stimulus and various other policies we’ve passed to help the recovery, and despite the large deficits the government has been running, government spending and investment have, at all levels, been contractionary since 2010. read more »Report: Nearly Half of Americans Have No Safety Net to Keep Them Out of Poverty by Lauren Kelley, alternet.org | January 31, 2013
A new report reveals a fact that too many Americans are familiar with first-hand: nearly half of the nation's residents have no safety net to protect them from falling into poverty in the event of a layoff or other financial misfortune. The recently published Assets & Opportunities Scorecard from the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) shows that "[n]early 44 percent of Americans don't have enough savings or other liquid assets to stay out of poverty for more than three months if they lose their income," as NPR summarized. At the same time, nearly a third of Americans live with no savings account at all. read more »Why Consumers are Bummed Out by Robert B. Reich , robertreich.org | January 30, 2013
The Conference Board reported Tuesday that the preliminary January figure for consumer confidence in the United States fell to its lowest level in more than a year. The last time consumers were this bummed out was October 2011, when there was widespread talk of a double-dip recession. But this time business news is buoyant. The stock market is bullish. The housing market seems to have rebounded a bit. So why are consumers so glum? Because they’re deeply worried about their jobs and their incomes – as they have every right to be. The job situation is still lousy. We’ll know more this coming Friday about what happened to jobs in January. But we know over 20 million people are still unemployed or underemployed. read more »
The Latest
Citigroup Says It Didn't Use 'Robo-Signers,' Still Faces Increased Risk Due to Sour Mortgages, Huffington Post | October 19, 2010
Top Citigroup executives sought to assure investors and the public Monday that the firm's foreclosure process and its handling of key documents in securitizing home mortgages is "sound," despite growing concerns over how lenders may have skirted the law when bundling home mortgages, selling them and kicking delinquent borrowers out of their home.
Don't Believe The Bank Lobby: Foreclosure Fraud Is Bad For Homeowners And The Economy, ourfuture.org | October 19, 2010
The bank lobby is spreading a host of silly myths about the foreclosure fraud outbreak in an effort to downplay the scandal and minimize concerns over potential bank losses that have emerged in the blogosphere. Housing Wire’s Paul Jackson spouts most of them in his post today. more »
Bank of America to restart foreclosures in 23 states, The Washington Post | October 19, 2010
Just 10 days after announcing a nationwide halt to foreclosure sales, Bank of America, the nation's largest bank, said Monday that it would begin resubmitting paperwork on Oct. 25 to restart foreclosures on borrowers who missed their payments in 23 states. more »
The Feds New Bubble (Masquerading As A Jobs Program), tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com | October 19, 2010
Geithner Weak Dollar Seen as U.S. Recovery Route Versus BRICs, bloomberg.com | October 19, 2010
Gridlock Sam: The Tea Party’s Bridge to Beyond Nowhere, pbs.org | October 19, 2010
The Tea Party has captured the imagination and spirit of many Americans and may very well turn that into a powerful voting bloc come November. But, that bloc may not have a leg or girder to stand on as our nation’s infrastructure continues to crumble. more »
From Obama, the Tax Cut Nobody Heard Of, The New York Times | October 19, 2010
In a New York Times/CBS News Poll last month, fewer than one in 10 respondents knew that the Obama administration had lowered taxes for most Americans. Half of those polled said they thought that their taxes had stayed the same, a third thought that their taxes had gone up, and about a tenth said they did not know. more »
Foreclosures Surge 9 Percent in July as Banks Crack Down, The Washington Post | August 13, 2010
The number of U.S. homes lost to foreclosure rose sharply in July, as lenders took back more properties from homeowners who had been in default for months on end.
Lenders repossessed 92,858 properties last month, up 9 percent from June and an increase of 6 percent from July 2009, the foreclosure-listing firm RealtyTrac said Thursday.
Fed's Effort to Bolster U.S. Recovery Fails to Calm Investors, bloomberg.com | August 13, 2010
The Federal Reserve’s first attempt to bolster the flagging U.S. recovery shows no sign of dispelling investor concerns the world’s largest economy may slide back into a recession. more »
Rubio Claims It’s ‘A Misnomer’ To Say He Wants To Preserve The Bush Tax Cuts For The Rich , wonkroom.thinkprogress.org | August 13, 2010
Republicans have been defending their desire to preserve the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy — which the Obama administration would like to see expire at the end of the year — by falsely claiming that they will affect a multitude of small businesses. more »
