Public art of the day

Man Running Through Fence Job Martens and Piet Meeuws

Cartoon of the day

Capitalist unemployment & wages

Unfortunately, this is how capitalism works—by disciplining and punishing those who do the work. First, unemployment is not falling (even though national income is growing) and the duration of unemployment is rising: Second, and as a consequence, real wages and benefits are falling: Wage and benefit costs, both before and after adjusting for inflation, grew [...]

Public art of the day

The Great Recession Leon Reid IV

Struggling with hunger

According to a new study released by the Food Research and Action Center (based on data collected by Callup), nearly 1 in 5 Americans is struggling with hunger. Here are some of the findings: Food hardship in the Gallup survey for the nation as a whole rose from 16.3 percent of respondent households in the [...]

Economist of the day

Have we really reached the situation where the Senate as a body and individual Senators – accomplished men and women, who stand on the shoulders of giants – must bow down before financial markets and high-ranking executives who are really just talking their book? Simon Johnson

Rethinking society

Daniel Little’s project of working through the basic categories of social theory is quite valuable. Not that I’ve always agreed with him (e.g., here). But I certainly learn a great deal in reading his posts. His latest–on social relations, processes, and activities—is a good example. Little introduces the idea that there are “persistent phenomena in [...]

Public art of the day

necklace billboard to coincide with the Gentrification of Brooklyn show at MoCADA Specter

Business as usual

What’s the message that is sent with the Senate confirmation of Ben Bernanke as Fed chairman? That you can fail spectacularly at your job, leaving tens of millions of facing the consequences of that failure in the form of unemployment, foreclosures, and lost savings, and yet be reappointed—as long as the financial industry can keep [...]

Rethinking financial markets

Nick Krafft has written a superb review of David A. Westbrook’s new book, Out of Crisis: Rethinking Financial Markets (as well as commenting on reviews written by others, here and here). Here are excerpts from Krafft’s review: It is at this point that Westbrook makes one of his most important contributions, urging a reshaping of [...]