Political Economy category archive

The Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran looks at a recent Monmouth poll showing that over half of the populace thinks that the economy is doing poorly, then he runs the numbers, which indicate quite the opposite. A snippet:

Here are some inconvenient facts for Biden’s critics:

Since he took office, the economy has added 13 million new jobs, the most ever created in a single term. The unemployment rate is 3.6 percent, the lowest it’s been since the 1960s. The rate among Hispanics hit a record low of 3.2 last year, and for Blacks, the all-time low came this spring, when the rate dipped to 4.7 percent.

The man deserves a thumbs-up. But the Monmouth poll shows that 48 percent disapprove of Biden’s performance on jobs, with 47 percent approving.

Follow the link for his thoughts on the disconnect.

At the Hartford Courant, Democratic Congressman John Larson argues forcefully that the debt ceiling as it currently exists is a failed policy. He states (emphasis added)

The debt ceiling as it stands is a failed policy, which gives our worst actors the tools to threaten defaulting on payments they themselves voted for in order to extract concessions.

Follow the link for his reasoning.

One of the features of the pending debt-ceiling compromise bill is increasing work requirements for persons receiving SNAP and TANF benefits.

Cara Brumfield explains why this is a con and a scam. A snippet:

Work requirements don’t lead people into jobs. They cause people struggling with poverty to lose critical benefits because of the paperwork required to fulfill work requirements or receive an exemption from them.

The reality is that millions of workers rely on programs like Medicaid and SNAP because they are paid low wages, have unpredictable schedules, and lack benefits — all of which make it harder to meet the work requirements.

Kathryn A. Edwards suggests that the fee hand of the market does not, indeed, fix all faults.

See her list of lingering liabilities.

Methinks my old friend Noz may be onto something.

Sam and his crew explore what’s going on with the Hollywood writers’ strike. It’s more complex that one might think.

The reasons for the strike are wrapped with how “streaming” has changed the structure of broadcast entertainment and eroded both job security and residual payments. This in turn has led to a loss of income for the writers (and, I suspect, others) who historically have relied on residuals to help protect against future income insecurity.

For more detail, visit the Youtube page for this video; there is an extensive explanation below the video.