Undismalization

Robert Reich on the Disequilibrium of Employee Wages vs. Corporate Profits in Share of the Economy

2011-11-30T19:25:00.001-05:00

Image via WikipediaOn American Public Media's Marketplace today, Robert Reich cited a statistic that may be the most stunning I have heard since the financial crisis of 2008:...

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Is it Time to Reinvent Human Resources?

2011-03-30T19:10:00.009-04:00

Did you catch this article in the last issue of Reader's Digest, about the supposed dirty little secrets of the HR profession?If not, you should read it. As you'll see, the article created a...

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Immigration Think Tank Comments on Rising Entrepreneurship Rate Among Immigrants

2011-03-21T06:53:00.004-04:00

The Partnership for a New American Economy, an organization focused on U.S. immigration policies and issues, has released a statement on new Kauffman Study findings that the representation of...

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Congressional Commission Releases Report on Economic Security Implications of China's Increasing Influence

2011-03-21T06:32:00.004-04:00

The U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission, created by Congress to report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and...

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Illinois Congressman's Bill Would Create Tax Brackets Up to 49 Percent for the Very Wealthy

2011-03-21T05:36:00.007-04:00

The Fairness in Taxation Act, introduced March 17 by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), would create new tax brackets ranging from 45 to 49 percent on personal incomes ranging from $1 million to $1 billion...

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Ventry of UC Davis on NPR: Tax Deductions on Mortgage Interest, Property Taxes "Bad for the Economy"

2009-11-22T17:37:00.017-05:00

Economist Dennis Ventry of the University of California at Davis said on NPR's All Things Considered today that tax deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes are bad for the economy.Why?...

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“Naked Lunch” Economics: Our Everyday Micro-Vignettes of Money, Morality, and Evil

2009-09-06T19:28:00.010-04:00

I once knew an entrepreneur who insisted that, in a free enterprise system, a for-profit entity should have no heart. In this person’s view, every business issue should be described, evaluated, and...

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The Recovery of One

2009-08-28T22:18:00.004-04:00

Referencing my comments in an earlier post about the period of mixed signals we now seem to be entering, one potential concern is that, in this age of the 24-hour news cycle, we may be over-reporting...

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The Cycle of the Storm

2009-08-26T16:12:00.005-04:00

For the past several weeks, and often within the course of a given week, the tone of news about the economy has been like a roller coaster. One week housing starts or corporate earnings are...

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More on the Origin of “The Dismal Science”

2009-08-24T15:43:00.007-04:00

In an earlier post I promised to elaborate on my research into the origin of the nickname “The Dismal Science” for economics. For the sake of keeping that promise, and for the benefit of those who...

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On the Profoundly Ironic Illogic of Screaming “Keep Your Government Hands Off My Healthcare!”

2009-08-19T18:21:00.018-04:00

When a system has been in place throughout your entire nation since well before you were born, it’s easy to make the conclusion--unwarranted, given a lack of exploration of the evidence--that it's...

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So Now the Public Option Seems to be Off the Table -- And That's a Crying Shame

2009-08-17T13:24:00.017-04:00

President Obama, in the spirit of his reputation as The Great Compromiser--which I do in fact applaud as one of his stronger political attributes that enables him, like Bill Clinton, to at least get...

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No Revisit, This Time, On Employer-Based Health Insurance

2009-08-10T16:00:00.019-04:00

In the earliest stages of his administration's engagement with the healthcare reform issue, President Obama made it clear that a "Canadian-type" model won't work for us, at least not now, since we...

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Identify Yourself!

2009-08-08T01:18:00.003-04:00

If you read this blog regularly, I’d like to ask a favor. To ensure that you receive the most timely possible alerts on new postings, as well as information on opportunities to receive supplementary...

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Boring and Interesting at the Same Time

2009-08-03T01:07:00.005-04:00

Recently some loosely related fragments of thought about economics were circulating in my mind. They seemed to be trying to find a way to coalesce into some form of higher level connection.The first...

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The Undismal Weekly Wrapup - July 12-18, 2009

2009-07-20T16:46:00.024-04:00

Analytical Summaries of Key Stories of the Week on Economics and Public PolicyInteresting week, with major themes focusing on cautious optimism on signs of recovery (but with a tone of expectations...

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Brought to You by Big Government

2009-07-16T15:48:00.005-04:00

This Plant Has Worked 307 Days Without a Lost Time Accident.The Best Previous Record Was 286 Days.Report All Unsafe Conditions to Your Foreman. My diverse and rather circuitous professional life has...

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The Flaws of Quasi-Darwinist Arguments for a Pure Laissez-Faire System

2009-07-14T16:10:00.004-04:00

Adam Smith, having published The Theory of Moral Sentiments, in which the theory of “the invisible hand” first appears, precisely a century before Darwin’s Origin of the Species, created a model...

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The Undismal Weekly Wrapup -- July 5-11, 2009

2009-07-13T01:37:00.010-04:00

Analytical Summaries of Key Stories of the Week on Economics and Public PolicyA Possible Bailout for Small Business (Forbes)Brian Wingfield reports on the possibility, currently under consideration...

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The Undismal Weekly Wrapup -- June 28-July 4, 2009

2009-07-07T00:14:00.013-04:00

Analytical Summaries of Key Stories of the Week on Economics and Public PolicyA Setback on Jobs (New York Times)In an analysis of unexpectedly high job losses reported for June, David Leonhardt...

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The Return of Cottage Industry

2009-07-06T01:29:00.005-04:00

In the Great Recession, resources like Craigslist, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, flyers on telephone poles and under windshield wipers, blogging platforms, slapped-together DIY business cards, and...

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Michael Jackson, Jesus, and the Dark Economics of Celebrity in America

2009-07-02T15:28:00.046-04:00

Years ago, Joni Mitchell sang about "the star maker machinery behind the popular song." She was right that there is, in effect, a machine -- a very powerful one -- involved in the making of fame, in...

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The Undismal Weekly Wrapup -- June 21-27, 2009

2009-06-30T02:06:00.012-04:00

Analytical Summaries of Key Stories of the Week on Economics and Public PolicyA Funding Roadblock Ahead for Clean Energy (New York Times)Kate Galbraith of the New York Times explores the question of...

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Do Something. Now.

2009-06-27T19:51:00.002-04:00

I’ve touched before on the issue of what I think, ultimately, will propel us out of The Great Recession. But I’d like to expand upon it a little more now. On the one hand I agree with those...

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“That’s Crazy Talk!”: The Very Special Subfield of Schizonomics

2009-06-26T16:58:00.008-04:00

Schizonomics is neither an original term that I can take credit for coining nor, on the other hand, a term that has any particular established meaning. A Google search on the word today produced a...

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