A few commenters have asked me to weigh in on the debt ceiling debate. I haven’t written much about it, mostly because a) it’s been well covered elsewhere and b) I can’t think of good synonyms for “catastrophic” (actually, Word’s list is excellent: I like “ruinous”). Sorry—gallows humor. I don’t know about you, but I… Read more
Wage Story, Longer Term
A few comments urged me to reference the longer-term wage story…no one better than EPI for that, so here it is. It’s not pretty, either in real terms or especially compared to productivity growth. It’s this latter story that EPI put on the map and it’s a central part of the evolution of wage, income,… Read more
What’s Going Down with Real Wages?
I agree with Krugman that when it comes to the economy, we’re mostly worrying about the wrong stuff. Paul stressed jobs over current deficits, but here’s something else to legitimately wring your hands about: real wages—pay adjusted for inflation—are recently in decline for most workers. What’s that? You thought they’ve been falling for a while? … Read more
Family Budget Not Equal to Government Budget
Heading into work the other day, I heard a Congresswoman on the radio using a common argument that always sticks in my craw—or it would if I knew what a ‘craw’ was. Here’s the gist: “The federal budget is just like a family budget, and we in government must tight our belts and live within… Read more
Private Insurance Markets: They’re Different
I’m going to do a couple of posts on health care this morning, riffing off of two extremely revealing news accounts. To me, these both fit in the “STMYGH” category (‘stuff that makes you go hmmm’): The NYT ran an interesting article about insurance company economics this weekend and I was once again struck by… Read more