While there has been positive news about recent wage growth, looking back over the last 40 years reveals a different story for the average worker. Adjusting for inflation, wages (as measured by average hourly earnings reported monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) were only around 11 percent higher in 2018 than they were in […]
How Capitalism Exploits Our Fear of Old Age
In 1989, only one in five Americans aged 75 or older were in debt; by 2016, almost half were, according to the most recent US Federal Reserve survey of consumer finances. The rise in senior debt comes at a time when the wealth gap between rich and middle-class or poor Americans is at an all-time […]
Companies Use Borrowed Billions to Buy Back Stock, Not to Invest
When the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, making it cheaper to borrow, it’s supposed to deliver a direct boost to the economy. But one key part of that machinery has broken down. Business investment used to rise when U.S. companies took on more debt—because most companies borrowed to add capacity. Nowadays, they’re likelier to funnel […]
Trump Is Repackaging His Brand of Neoliberalism as Economic Nationalism
The United States has a long history of manipulating global markets to the benefit of extremely wealthy, but where did it all begin? And how can we learn from that past and the current moment to save the planet and its population? T.J. Coles, author of Privatized Planet: Free Trade as a Weapon Against Democracy, Healthcare […]