"Words that make actions speak louder."
President Obama, speaking to a CNBC town hall on the economy today, China ‘s currency is valued lower than market conditions would say it should be. That means they can sell stuff cheaper here, and our stuff, when we try to sell there, is more expensive. So it gives them an advantage in trade. What […]
I just got off a “blogger call” with Elizabeth Warren, who President Obama just appointed as a Special Assistant in charge of setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I was able to ask her a question, and asked, “You are about to go up against the most powerful lobbyists in the country. What […]
Who counts and who doesn’t count? We hear so much about the “middle class” but rarely about the plight of the poor. And of course we hear again and again that the wealthy are “successful” and the “job-creators” who shouldn’t be “punished” by being asked to give something back to the country that enabled their […]
This tax trick is based on a popular assumption that businesses can just raise prices whenever they want to. But a well-run business is already charging what they should charge for their product or service.
Today the US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk filed two complaints with the World Trade Organization (WTO). The first alleges that China is keeping American credit and debit card companies out of their electronic payment market. The second is a “dumping” (selling under cost) complaint on steel products. “We are concerned that China is breaking […]
Update – please see RJ Eskow’s post, As The Aging Stoop To Their Labors, Prosperous Pundits Lecture Them About Sacrifice Washington is talking about cutting Social Security for working people at the very same time it is talking about extending tax breaks for the wealthiest people in history. This is a result of our county’s […]
Since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) our country’s balance of trade has gotten worse and worse and we have lost jobs and jobs (and money and money). Between 2001 and 2008 we lost 2.4 million jobs just to China. Normally a situation like this balances out because China’s currency would rise, making goods […]
The President has a commission looking at ways to reduce the budget deficits which were caused by tax cuts for the rich and military spending increases. Social Security – which has no legal authority to borrow money, so it can’t contribute to deficits – is on the table for cuts, at least as far as […]
Lots of kids believe in Santa Claus. This is because people repeat the fable to kids over and over, telling them that Santa Claus will deliver presents to them if they’re good. And then there’s the Boogeyman, the “amorphous embodiment of terror.” In some regions stories of the Boogeyman are repeated and repeated, and to […]
Charlie Brown (us) has again run up to kick the football. Lucy (China) has again pulled the football away at the last minute. The result? The trade gap continues to grow and tis eats away at our jobs and our GDP: “…the worsening trade deficit cut the Q2 GDP growth rate by -2.8%.” This time […]