Articles tagged with: economic stimulus

The rich get richer, the rest of us need income security.
The sad reality and absurdity of our economic situation is on display in today’s New York Times. Two front-page stories, conveniently – thoughtfully? deliberately? – placed next to each other, present two sides of “the economy.”
First, because it’s higher on the page, is:
$3.4 Billion Profit [...]

Paygo, budget deficits, and income security
Politicians are talking about paygo, and President Obama endorsed the concept a few days ago. Why not? It purportedly worked in the 90s, when President Clinton and the Republican Congress cut government spending and produced a budget surplus.
It’s a simple rule: New spending legislation must include the cuts to pay [...]

Struggling families need income security
It’s no secret that families are scrimping, struggling, and sacrificing.
Too often, however, the human face of financial difficulties is obscured by the conventions of economic discourse. Pundits, journalists, and economists – and most  politicians, though they ought to know better because they depend on winning votes – seem to prefer to [...]

The economic crisis demands income security for all.
Sooner or later, our elected officials and other “leaders” will have to acknowledge that conventional political and economic approaches are not working. Conventional policies cannot work.
A panel of prominent economists and scholars recently discussed the economic crises and some of the problems with the policies our government is [...]

The logic of income security for all – and bailing out people, not banks – is illustrated, though only indirectly, by a front page story in today’s New York Times.
The story is about community banks, and merits front-page coverage because it’s an aspect of the situation that’s been generally ignored. Community banks are mostly fine. [...]

The $3.4 trillion federal budget has passed both houses of Congress, nicely timed for President Obama’s 100th day in office. That’s total spending, the broad outlines, setting the scene for lots of fights over the details.
When people hear about Citizen Dividends, they often agree with the concept – stop the bailouts, give money directly [...]

A front page story in the New York Times considers European governments’ refusal to take the Obama administration’s advice and spend lots of money to stimulate their economies. The article gives further insight into (1) why we ought to enact a guaranteed basic income, Citizen Dividends, and (2) why basic income is very different than [...]

There is a rapid, reliable, responsible way to end the recession. We can achieve that by enacting Citizen Dividends, a guaranteed basic income for every American.
Moderate Democrats and Republicans supported guaranteed income in the 1960s — so did leading economists, liberals and conservatives — and a plan to provide it passed in the House by [...]

The Federal Reserve Board will spend $1.2 trillion to buy long-term government bonds and other securities as a way to stimulate economic activity. That $1.2 trillion could give every adult roughly $1,000 a month for six months.
Give us the money. We’ll stimulate economic activity by our spending. We’ll make mortgage payments, ending the foreclosure crisis. [...]

“Give the money to us, not AIG or Citibank.” We’re hearing that from angry callers to radio and TV, and from family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers. Many of us are saying it.
The anger is real and growing, though unfocused and therefore unproductive. One reason for the lack of focus is that people don’t know [...]