Update 498 – Amid Heated Debate on TrumpEconomy, Jobs, Wages Stuck in Deep Freeze After the fatal occupation of the Capitol last week, the nation’s attention is squarely focused on the state of our democracy and approaching transfer of power. For the first time in our history, the House is poised to impeach the President …
Update 451: COVID’s Summer Hot SpotsArgue for Targeted, Automatic Relief Fix No economic relief or bill, regardless of size, will be scrupulously equitable as regards state, sector, class, generation, etc. Nor would equity on every basis be optimal in all circumstances. Today, Montana and Vermont are both marginally affected by the Coronavirus. Should relief for …
Update 449: Jobless Forecast: Deep Stasis,Out of the Free Fall, into a Long-Haul Stall The collective sigh of relief from workers and business owners seeing the 13.3 percent national unemployment figure for May may have come too soon. The figure is, at best, misleading. A 1.4 percent drop in unemployment, the best month-over-month figures since …
Update 444 — A Startling Statistic to OpenThe Summer of Our Legitimate Discontent On Friday morning, Americans will confront the statistical reality of the coronavirus’ impact on jobs. If you wonder what 20 percent unemployment feels like, this is it. If it takes some getting used to, we all will have that chance — a …
Update 443: The COVID Economic Experiencefor Workers, Consumers, Employers, Investors Your economic experience of the impact of the coronavirus will reflect your role in the economy. Are you an “essential worker”? Can you work from home? Can you find the necessities of life as easily or cheaply as before? Are you buying scarce or rationed …
Update 437: 20.5 Mil. in US Lost Jobs in April,25 Times Loss in Worst Month of 2008 Crash The superlatives will abound in headlines around the nation, as Americans try to fathom the meaning of 14.7 percent official unemployment. Wasn’t it just 3.7 the day before yesterday? As for tomorrow, who can say? Today, we …
Update 428: Corona III Programs in Need of RxImplementation Snafus and Consequences Following the grim vital statistics wrought by the coronavirus are numbers revealing a secondary affliction reaching millions more. Every day brings news of another round of tens of thousands of layoffs, furloughs, shift cuts, even wage cuts. The federal fiscal responses to the …
Update 427: Corona 3 Implementation StartsMoney Out When? Stimulating a Dead Horse? The incredible shrinking and increasingly virtual U.S. economy is being transformed by the coronavirus into something we have never seen before and increasingly hard to spot. Ten million jobs have vanished in under two weeks and the famous flattening of the curve is …
Update 426: New Economic Misery Index;Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Out Tomorrow With the nation bracing for more bad news tomorrow, the sense in Congress is that the historic $2 trillion Corona III won’t be enough. Indeed, talks (over the phone) are already in progress on a fourth Corona bill. We hear some talk of a …
Update 408 — Beware the Aggregate Stat:How Wage Gains Make Inequality Look Good The nation’s ten-year-plus economic recovery from the financial crisis of 2008 barely lifted wage gains above inflation much of that time. Workers treaded water until the last couple of years when gains were finally recorded. This made news. Of course, over the …
