Back when I studied economics, we “proved” in class that a minimum wage causes unemployment. But that proof depends on assuming a perfectly competitive market. Big low-wage employers like Wal-Mart have substantial market power; they can deliberately under-staff operations to force down wages. In that case, a minimum wage increase can actually create jobs–if it can be enforced. . . . → Read More: Increasing the Minimum Wage Can Actually Create Jobs–If It’s Enforced
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The new Congressional Budget Office report projects that the Affordable Care Act will lead to a decline in full-time equivalent workers of 2.5 million. This is people voluntarily deciding to work less–like mothers with small children, or workers in poor health or close to retirement. That should mean higher wages for the remaining workers. . . . → Read More: The Affordable Care Act Will Raise Wages Quantitative Easing (QE) was supposed to stimulate the economy by encouraging investment with low interest money. That hasn’t happened, but why? Does no one want to borrow, or do banks not want to lend? My favorite financial columnist, Yves Smith, has laid out both theories. . . . → Read More: What’s Crippling the Recovery: Lack of Investment Demand or Too-Big-to-Lend Banks? A carbon tax would operate much like a diamond tax, for reasons both of demand and supply. . . . → Read More: Taxing Carbon is Like Taxing Diamonds In 1995, we encountered a group of economic advisors to Governor John Engler of Michigan, intent on cutting property taxes. We reminded them of California’s 1979 Proposition 13. After Prop. 13 rolled back and froze property taxes, sales taxes reached crushing levels, budget crises became routine, local services collapsed, and public schools fell from the best in the nation to among the worst. But Engler was determined. . . . → Read More: How a Progressive Tax System Made Detroit a Powerhouse (and Could Again)  One comment - (Comments are closed)  Essay, Gaffney Link  Detroit, Inequality, land taxes, Mason Gaffney, Michigan, property taxes, sales taxes, Tax policy As most of us know, sales taxes are “regressive.” That is, when sales taxes are “passed on,” they fall harder on poorer customers than on richer ones. That’s why many states exempt food and medicine, as does New York, (except for restaurant food). But sales taxes are also “passed back” onto retailers and service providers. It’s the “passed back” portion of sales taxes that do the most damage, because—unlike profit taxes—they take a bite from gross revenues before expenses. Sales taxes fall hardest on small, labor-intensive retailers, with high volume and low profit margins. . . . → Read More: Grover Norquist is Right to Oppose Internet Sales Taxes Comments are closed Essay Floyd Norris, Inequality, internet sales taxes, sales taxes, small business, Tax policy, VAT On the NewsHour Friday night, in response to the dismal new jobs numbers, Andrew McAfee of the MIT Center for Digital Business blames the loss on “powerful” new labor-saving technology. But if he’s right, is it the technology itself, or the large corporations that install it? . . . → Read More: Is New Technology Destroying Jobs? 3 comments - (Comments are closed) Essay Inequality, labor-saving technology, Monopoly, Reagan Revolution, Wages Joseph Stiglitz says that “Inequality is Holding Back the Recovery”. He’s right, but he gives the wrong reason, that “our middle class is too weak to support the consumer spending that has historically driven our economic growth.” This “Keynesian” spending model does not effectively address inequality and thus can lead to poor policy prescriptions. The real reason inequality stalls the economy is that natural resources and capital are monopolized at the top, kept away from the middle class that could invest them far more productively. . . . → Read More: Joseph Stiglitz Is Right About Inequality, but for the Wrong Reason Comments are closed Essay capital market failure, Inequality, Keynesian economics, Macroeconomics, Stiglitz What’s the connection between the battery fires that grounded Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and the massive failure and recall of Johnson & Johnson’s metal hip implants? Both are consequences of the recent transformation of multinational corporations from manufacturers to monopolistic distributors who contract out production–a transformation first documented by journalist Barry C. Lynn . . . → Read More: The Prophetic Work of Barry Lynn Paul Krugman says the economy suffers from a “liquidity trap” due to insufficient demand. In my view, we’re in an “inequality trap” as the One Percent, big corporations and banks hoard cash, starving small businesses for capital. . . . → Read More: Is Paul Krugman’s Liquidity Trap Really an Inequality Trap? One comment - (Comments are closed) Essay Deficit spending, Inequality, Keynesian economics, Paul Krugman |
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