Articles Archive for May 2009

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 [...]

Sonia Sotomayor and income security for all Sonia Sotomayor has become a household name since President Obama announced her as his pick for the Supreme Court. Her life story is truly remarkable: Puerto Rican parents, growing up in the South Bronx, the death of her father when she was young, her mother working two jobs [...]

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 [...]

Anti-government reasons to demand income security for all. Here’s the opening paragraph of an op-ed piece in today’s Washington Post: Americans should look carefully at the anti-politician, anti-government mood exhibited in California this week. Just as Proposition 13 and the anti-tax movement of 1978 were the forerunners of the Reagan presidential victory, so the results [...]

Income security and the pursuit of happiness. It’s good to pause at times and think about what it means when people talk about “the pursuit of happiness,” particularly when we assert that it’s an “inalienable right.” Income security may, in fact, be a prerequisite for happiness. That’s one conclusion I draw from a short article [...]

Rapid climate progress requires income security for all. Too bad most people, particularly elected politicians, don’t realize it. Our job is to educate them. There have been lots of news stories over the past two days about the Obama administration setting stricter fuel efficiency standards. Opponents insist that the new standards will raise car prices [...]

To save capitalism, income security for all is imperative. That phrase, “saved capitalism,” is one many historians use to describe Franklin Roosevelt’s actions in response to the Great Depression. We got Social Security; the FDIC, to insure bank deposits; the SEC, to protect investors and restore confidence in financial markets; and other government agencies and [...]

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 [...]

Income security for all will solve many social and political problems, including improving health care and saving rainforests. If anyone still doubts the power of viral social marketing, there’s a nice example in today’s New York Times, and it relates directly to several aspects of income security for all. The Times story is about a [...]

Income security for all is the best and fastest way to fix or heal the economy. But first: Are you tired of news about “the economy”? When you listen to the people on TV and radio – the reporters, commentators, and authors; the bankers, CEOs, and economists; and the politicians, too – do you sometimes [...]