India is voting. That might not seem like a big deal to many people in the United States. But, it is a very big deal for three reasons: The size of the electorate in any other democracy pales in comparison to that in India. The manner in which the elections are being conducted. The expected participation rate in the elections. According to the Embassy of India in Washington, D.C., India has 815 million eligible voters. That compares to 193 million voter in the U.S. for an … [Read more...]
Student Athletes or Employees: The Debate in Perspective (Part 2)
This is the second part of a two-part blog on this issue. In the first blog, we defined the context and defined some of the parameters of this debate and concluded by agreeing with Donald Remy, NCAA attorney that "improvements need to be made". In this blog posting, we provide more analysis on why those improvements are necessary and set out recommendations and possible options for making those improvements. Most of the press over the past month has centered on the NLRB ruling that stated … [Read more...]
Student Athletes or Employees: The Debate in Perspective (Part 1)
Now that March Madness is over it is time to bring a little sanity to the debate over whether those engaged in major college sports are student athletes or workers. The sides advocating for unionization of students involved in those sports and those opposing such a move both have some legitimate points. We believe that the best way to look at this, though, is by considering the broader context rather than by merely evaluating contending positions for and against unionization or the status of … [Read more...]
Glenn Miller: Now and Then
On Sunday, April 13, the day before Passover, a man named Frazier Glenn Cross, known as Glenn Miller, is alleged to have shot and killed three people outside two Jewish facilities in Overland Park, Kansas. Miller's apparent intent was to wreak violence upon the Jewish people as others have shamefully done here in the United States and in countries around the world in the past. None of Mr. Miller's victims, however, was Jewish. The people who died were: Reat Griffin Underwood, 14, an … [Read more...]
A False Choice: Earned Income Tax Credit or Minimum Wage Increase
The release of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study, The Effects of a Minimum Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income, in mid-February created a brouhaha within and around the Beltway. In our opinion, however, the study brought more heat than light about what to do to address the economic needs of those in low income families and low wage workers. That's because the study itself became the story as its methodology and conclusions were debated by those in the economic … [Read more...]
Unions Labeled. Workers Trapped.
The beating that the UAW took in the election at the Volkswagen (VW) plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee a month or so ago was nothing compared to the beating that unions took before and after that defeat. In the good old days of organized labor, it was "look for the union label." In these extremely trying times for them, it is look at the unions being labeled. In our opinion, this is bad for the American worker and the American economy. We'll explain why later in this blog. Let us begin, … [Read more...]
America’s New Poverty: The Poverty That Must Be Defeated
In this 50th anniversary year of the initiation of the War on Poverty (War), there has been much discussion about the war and its relative success and failure. There has been far too little attention paid, however, to America's new poverty. That is a poverty of compassion, a poverty of commitment, and a poverty of creativity. Before we examine the nature of those emerging dimensions of poverty, let's reflect on the history of the War on Poverty. On January 8, 1964, in his State of the … [Read more...]
Let’s Grow Wall Street and Main Street Together
In spite of a bumpy start in the financial markets in the first month of the New Year, we remain bullish on the potential for the growth of the economy at the macro and GDP level. We are bearish, however, on the potential for the growth of the economy overall at the micro or IEW level -- that's Individual Economic Well-being. For the American economy to truly recover in 2014, we need growth at both levels. We need to grow Wall Street and Main Street. And, that growth needs to be reciprocal … [Read more...]
Contrary to Popular Opinion: America Doing Well (Relatively) Economically and Competitively
President Barack Obama opened his State of the Union Address last night with a statement on the increasing strength of the American economy. He made a sound case by citing positive progress over the past year in a number of areas including job creation, American car sales, domestic oil production, the housing market and the stock market. There is only one problem. That is, in spite of the evidence, a number of American citizens may not share the president's perspective or assessment. In … [Read more...]
Word of the Year — Science: Fact vs. Fiction
In early December, Merriam Webster announced its selection of "science" as its word of the year for 2013. This choice stood in stark contrast to the selection of "selfie" announced in November by the Oxford University Press as its word for the year. When we first heard of the choice of "science" we were almost as enthused as we were dismayed by the choice of "selfie" in terms of what these apparently battling words of the year say about our times. Then, our "inner scientist" kicked in. We … [Read more...]