The Truth about the Economy in Two Minutes - Robert Reich

[Laidback Al]

Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including The Work of Nations, Locked in the Cabinet, Supercapitalism, and his most recent book, Aftershock. His "Marketplace" commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes. He is also Common Cause's board chairman.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTzMqm2TwgE&feature=player_detailpage

Connecting the dots:

1. American economy has doubled in size since 1980, but wages are flat.
2. All gains from the economy have gone to the super rich. They have 40% of the nation?s wealth.
3. All that money at the top has given the super rich lots of political power ? especially the power to lower their tax rate. Most wind up paying 17%.
4. Tax revenues are the lowest in 60 years. There are huge budget deficits and public services are being cut at all levels of government.
5. Middle class is divided by fear and instead of joining together for better wages, they compete over the scraps that are left behind: union vs. non-union, public employee vs. private?
6. Vast middle-class doesn?t have the purchasing power it once did, resulting in unemployment and an anemic recovery.

The answer for economic recovery? A strong middle-class.

 

[Emily]

Re: The Truth about the Economy in Two Minutes - Robert Reich

http://www.gpn.org/20070717_galbraith.pdf
Testimony of James K. Galbraith, Lloyd M. Bentsen, jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin, and Senior Scholar, Levy Economics Institute, before the House Committee on Financial Services, Hearings on the Conduct of Monetary Policy under the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act, Washington, DC, July 17, 2007.

Someone I know worked for the Federal Reserve back when Humphrey-Hawkins was passed by the Carter administration. The 'full employment' part of the name was a remnant of the intent of the first draft of the act. What was preserved in the final bill was to put the Federal Reserve under the thumb of partisan politics.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d095:HR00050@@L&summ2=m&

Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to transmit, not later than February 20 and July 20 of each year, independent written reports setting forth: (1) a review and analysis of recent developments affecting national economic trends; (2) the objectives and plans of the Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee with respect to the ranges of growth or diminution of the monetary and credit aggregates; and (3) the relationship of these objectives and plans to the short-term goals in the most recent Economic Report and any short-term goals approved by Congress.

If Congress wants high US unemployment and hence, even cheaper labor costs than globalization and technology replacement create - they get it now. Real unemployment and inflation rates have been hidden over the years by the way the official numbers are computed.

http://www.shadowstats.com/

 

[Emily]

Re: The Truth about the Economy in Two Minutes - Robert Reich

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/02/us-usa-fed-politics-idUSBRE88109Q20120902

At Jackson Hole, a growing fear for Fed independence


By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa

JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming | Sun Sep 2, 2012 5:39pm EDT

(Reuters) - Increasing political encroachment on the Federal Reserve, particularly from the Republican Party, could threaten the central bank's hard-won independence and undermine confidence in the nearly 100-year old institution.
[snip]
Comments from Romney advisor Martin Feldstein, also attending the Jackson Hole event, suggested a more Fed-friendly tone could yet reemerge from Republican side. Feldstein, a Harvard professor who would likely be on Romney's short-list to replace Bernanke at the Fed, downplayed the Republican push to strip the Fed of its dual mandate.

"I don't think that is a realistic idea," he said, noting that even central banks with single mandates have to pay close attention to growth and employment. "I don't think the dual mandate has handicapped them in their focus on keeping inflation down."

(Additional reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)
...

Nevertheless, I think the goal is indeed to deliver the coup de gr?ce to the already weakened remnant of the Fed's employment mandate.