Middle-class exploitation?

We need to stop obsessing about the middle-class and call things by their right name. Last September, I argued against focusing on a middle-class that needed to be “rebuilt,” suggesting that we return instead to the discourse of the working-class. Recent research by Jeff Kidder and Isaac Martin just confirms my view.* Their argument is [...]

Why I won’t be giving a TED talk anytime soon

  I won’t be giving a TED talk anytime soon. Not that I’ve been invited. Or ever expect to be invited. But Nick Hanauer [ht: sm] was, and the TED folks decided his talk was too controversial to post. Here’s a link to the text of his talk. Since 1980 the share of income for [...]

“Take me out to the tax game”

  [ht: sn]

Cartoon of the day

Special mention

How to tell that Monopoly is an old game

source [ht: sm]

Chart of the day

source And, perhaps not surprisingly, Apple is one of the worst offenders, even when it conducts “all of its business with the highest of ethical standards, complying with applicable laws and accounting rules.”

Cartoon of the day

  Special mention

Foreign business corruption: who cares?

Should we care about Wal-Mart’s practice of bribing government officials in Mexico? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce doesn’t care. It is actively working to gut the existing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Tim Worstall, writing for Forbes, doesn’t care either. It’s just a cost of doing business. In their world, businesses should be allowed to use [...]

Cartoon of the day

Special mention

Economist of the day

“The United States is getting accustomed to a completely crazy level of inequality,” Mr. Piketty said, with a degree of wonder. “People say that reducing inequality is radical. I think that tolerating the level of inequality the United States tolerates is radical.” Thomas Piketty Update The U.S. Senate yesterday rejected consideration of the “Buffet rule.”