Top 1% take biggest income slice on record
"The top 1% of earners in the U.S. pulled in 19.3% of total household income in 2012, which is their biggest slice of total income in more than 100 years, according to a an analysis by economists at the University of California, Berkeley and the Paris School of Economics at Oxford University.
The richest Americans haven't claimed this large of a slice of total wealth since 1927, when the group claimed 18.7%."
"..the top 1% of earnings posted 86% real income growth between 1993 and 2000. Meanwhile, the real income growth of the bottom 99% of earnings rose 6.6%."
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Sunday, September 08, 2013
Why Is One-Sixth of U.S. on Food Stamps? - Real Time Economics - WSJ
Why Is One-Sixth of U.S. on Food Stamps? - Real Time Economics - WSJ
"Food-stamp use grew 2.3% in June from a year earlier, with nearly one-sixth of the U.S. population receiving benefits."
"Food-stamp use grew 2.3% in June from a year earlier, with nearly one-sixth of the U.S. population receiving benefits."
Labor Recovery Leaves More Workers Behind - WSJ.com
Participation rate at lowest level since 1978 - WSJ.com
"The long, slow recovery in the U.S. job market is leaving ever-more Americans on the sidelines—and complicating the calculus for Federal Reserve policy makers weighing when the economy can get by with less help.""At the recent pace of hiring, the economy won't get back to prerecession levels of employment, adjusting for population growth, for more than eight years.
The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell not because people found jobs but because they gave up looking. "
"As a share of the population, fewer Americans are working or looking for work than at any time in the past 35 years."
"The share of the population that is working or looking for work—a measure known as the participation rate—fell to its lowest level since 1978, when women were still under-represented in the workforce and manufacturing accounted for more than a quarter of private-sector jobs."
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
Yale Professor Robert Shiller: Is this Housing Boom Going to Last? I Think Not - YouTube
Yale Professor Robert Shiller: Is this Housing Boom Going to Last? I Think Not - YouTube:
Yale Professor Robert Shiller says, “People who were thinking about buying a house last year are kicking themselves. Prices are up 12% in a year. As the market tightens, the attractiveness diminishes, but it’s still attractive.” Professor Shiller, who is one of the founders of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, sees two big possible headwinds for housing. One is the Federal Reserve ending or “tapering” its $85 billion a month bond buying program. Shiller contends, “I think people were really surprised at how much the mortgage rate reacted to the Fed merely talking about tapering off this bond buying program. Just the talk pushed up interest rates the better part of a percent.” The other headwind, Dr. Shiller says, “We might slip into another recession. China, India, Brazil and Russia are all slowing down. People are getting edgy about that may be just as big of a risk as the pull-back of Fed stimulus.” Dr. Shiller goes on to say, “The really big question on everybody’s mind is-is this something big, this home price boom over the last year. Is this boom going to last 9 years? I think not.
'via Blog this'
Yale Professor Robert Shiller says, “People who were thinking about buying a house last year are kicking themselves. Prices are up 12% in a year. As the market tightens, the attractiveness diminishes, but it’s still attractive.” Professor Shiller, who is one of the founders of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, sees two big possible headwinds for housing. One is the Federal Reserve ending or “tapering” its $85 billion a month bond buying program. Shiller contends, “I think people were really surprised at how much the mortgage rate reacted to the Fed merely talking about tapering off this bond buying program. Just the talk pushed up interest rates the better part of a percent.” The other headwind, Dr. Shiller says, “We might slip into another recession. China, India, Brazil and Russia are all slowing down. People are getting edgy about that may be just as big of a risk as the pull-back of Fed stimulus.” Dr. Shiller goes on to say, “The really big question on everybody’s mind is-is this something big, this home price boom over the last year. Is this boom going to last 9 years? I think not.
'via Blog this'
Saturday, August 31, 2013
On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs | Strike! Magazine
On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs | Strike! Magazine
"Ever had the feeling that your job might be made up? That the world would keep on turning if you weren’t doing that thing you do 9-5? David Graeber explored the phenomenon of bullshit jobs ... – everyone who’s employed should read carefully…"
...
"In the year 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that, by century’s end, technology would have advanced sufficiently that countries like Great Britain or the United States would have achieved a 15-hour work week. There’s every reason to believe he was right. In technological terms, we are quite capable of this. And yet it didn’t happen. Instead, technology has been marshaled, if anything, to figure out ways to make us all work more. In order to achieve this, jobs have had to be created that are, effectively, pointless. Huge swathes of people, in Europe and North America in particular, spend their entire working lives performing tasks they secretly believe do not really need to be performed. The moral and spiritual damage that comes from this situation is profound. It is a scar across our collective soul. Yet virtually no one talks about it."
...
"
So what are these new jobs, precisely? A recent report comparing employment in the US between 1910 and 2000 gives us a clear picture (and I note, one pretty much exactly echoed in the UK). Over the course of the last century, the number of workers employed as domestic servants, in industry, and in the farm sector has collapsed dramatically. At the same time, “professional, managerial, clerical, sales, and service workers” tripled, growing “from one-quarter to three-quarters of total employment.” In other words, productive jobs have, just as predicted, been largely automated away (even if you count industrial workers globally, including the toiling masses in India and China, such workers are still not nearly so large a percentage of the world population as they used to be).
But rather than allowing a massive reduction of working hours to free the world’s population to pursue their own projects, pleasures, visions, and ideas, we have seen the ballooning not even so much of the “service” sector as of the administrative sector, up to and including the creation of whole new industries like financial services or telemarketing, or the unprecedented expansion of sectors like corporate law, academic and health administration, human resources, and public relations. And these numbers do not even reflect on all those people whose job is to provide administrative, technical, or security support for these industries, or for that matter the whole host of ancillary industries (dog-washers, all-night pizza deliverymen) that only exist because everyone else is spending so much of their time working in all the other ones.
These are what I propose to call “bullshit jobs.”
..
"How can one even begin to speak of dignity in labour when one secretly feels one’s job should not exist? How can it not create a sense of deep rage and resentment. Yet it is the peculiar genius of our society that its rulers have figured out a way, as in the case of the fish-fryers, to ensure that rage is directed precisely against those who actually do get to do meaningful work. For instance: in our society, there seems a general rule that, the more obviously one’s work benefits other people, the less one is likely to be paid for it. Again, an objective measure is hard to find, but one easy way to get a sense is to ask: what would happen were this entire class of people to simply disappear? Say what you like about nurses, garbage collectors, or mechanics, it’s obvious that were they to vanish in a puff of smoke, the results would be immediate and catastrophic. A world without teachers or dock-workers would soon be in trouble, and even one without science fiction writers or ska musicians would clearly be a lesser place. It’s not entirely clear how humanity would suffer were all private equity CEOs, lobbyists, PR researchers, actuaries, telemarketers, bailiffs or legal consultants to similarly vanish. (Many suspect it might markedly improve.) Yet apart from a handful of well-touted exceptions (doctors), the rule holds surprisingly well.
Even more perverse, there seems to be a broad sense that this is the way things should be. This is one of the secret strengths of right-wing populism. You can see it when tabloids whip up resentment against tube workers for paralysing London during contract disputes: the very fact that tube workers can paralyse London shows that their work is actually necessary, but this seems to be precisely what annoys people. It’s even clearer in the US, where Republicans have had remarkable success mobilizing resentment against school teachers, or auto workers (and not, significantly, against the school administrators or auto industry managers who actually cause the problems) for their supposedly bloated wages and benefits. It’s as if they are being told “but you get to teach children! Or make cars! You get to have real jobs! And on top of that you have the nerve to also expect middle-class pensions and health care?”
If someone had designed a work regime perfectly suited to maintaining the power of finance capital, it’s hard to see how they could have done a better job. Real, productive workers are relentlessly squeezed and exploited. The remainder are divided between a terrorised stratum of the, universally reviled, unemployed and a larger stratum who are basically paid to do nothing, in positions designed to make them identify with the perspectives and sensibilities of the ruling class (managers, administrators, etc) – and particularly its financial avatars – but, at the same time, foster a simmering resentment against anyone whose work has clear and undeniable social value. Clearly, the system was never consciously designed. It emerged from almost a century of trial and error. But it is the only explanation for why, despite our technological capacities, we are not all working 3-4 hour days.
"Ever had the feeling that your job might be made up? That the world would keep on turning if you weren’t doing that thing you do 9-5? David Graeber explored the phenomenon of bullshit jobs ... – everyone who’s employed should read carefully…"
...
"In the year 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that, by century’s end, technology would have advanced sufficiently that countries like Great Britain or the United States would have achieved a 15-hour work week. There’s every reason to believe he was right. In technological terms, we are quite capable of this. And yet it didn’t happen. Instead, technology has been marshaled, if anything, to figure out ways to make us all work more. In order to achieve this, jobs have had to be created that are, effectively, pointless. Huge swathes of people, in Europe and North America in particular, spend their entire working lives performing tasks they secretly believe do not really need to be performed. The moral and spiritual damage that comes from this situation is profound. It is a scar across our collective soul. Yet virtually no one talks about it."
...
"
So what are these new jobs, precisely? A recent report comparing employment in the US between 1910 and 2000 gives us a clear picture (and I note, one pretty much exactly echoed in the UK). Over the course of the last century, the number of workers employed as domestic servants, in industry, and in the farm sector has collapsed dramatically. At the same time, “professional, managerial, clerical, sales, and service workers” tripled, growing “from one-quarter to three-quarters of total employment.” In other words, productive jobs have, just as predicted, been largely automated away (even if you count industrial workers globally, including the toiling masses in India and China, such workers are still not nearly so large a percentage of the world population as they used to be).
But rather than allowing a massive reduction of working hours to free the world’s population to pursue their own projects, pleasures, visions, and ideas, we have seen the ballooning not even so much of the “service” sector as of the administrative sector, up to and including the creation of whole new industries like financial services or telemarketing, or the unprecedented expansion of sectors like corporate law, academic and health administration, human resources, and public relations. And these numbers do not even reflect on all those people whose job is to provide administrative, technical, or security support for these industries, or for that matter the whole host of ancillary industries (dog-washers, all-night pizza deliverymen) that only exist because everyone else is spending so much of their time working in all the other ones.
These are what I propose to call “bullshit jobs.”
..
"How can one even begin to speak of dignity in labour when one secretly feels one’s job should not exist? How can it not create a sense of deep rage and resentment. Yet it is the peculiar genius of our society that its rulers have figured out a way, as in the case of the fish-fryers, to ensure that rage is directed precisely against those who actually do get to do meaningful work. For instance: in our society, there seems a general rule that, the more obviously one’s work benefits other people, the less one is likely to be paid for it. Again, an objective measure is hard to find, but one easy way to get a sense is to ask: what would happen were this entire class of people to simply disappear? Say what you like about nurses, garbage collectors, or mechanics, it’s obvious that were they to vanish in a puff of smoke, the results would be immediate and catastrophic. A world without teachers or dock-workers would soon be in trouble, and even one without science fiction writers or ska musicians would clearly be a lesser place. It’s not entirely clear how humanity would suffer were all private equity CEOs, lobbyists, PR researchers, actuaries, telemarketers, bailiffs or legal consultants to similarly vanish. (Many suspect it might markedly improve.) Yet apart from a handful of well-touted exceptions (doctors), the rule holds surprisingly well.
Even more perverse, there seems to be a broad sense that this is the way things should be. This is one of the secret strengths of right-wing populism. You can see it when tabloids whip up resentment against tube workers for paralysing London during contract disputes: the very fact that tube workers can paralyse London shows that their work is actually necessary, but this seems to be precisely what annoys people. It’s even clearer in the US, where Republicans have had remarkable success mobilizing resentment against school teachers, or auto workers (and not, significantly, against the school administrators or auto industry managers who actually cause the problems) for their supposedly bloated wages and benefits. It’s as if they are being told “but you get to teach children! Or make cars! You get to have real jobs! And on top of that you have the nerve to also expect middle-class pensions and health care?”
If someone had designed a work regime perfectly suited to maintaining the power of finance capital, it’s hard to see how they could have done a better job. Real, productive workers are relentlessly squeezed and exploited. The remainder are divided between a terrorised stratum of the, universally reviled, unemployed and a larger stratum who are basically paid to do nothing, in positions designed to make them identify with the perspectives and sensibilities of the ruling class (managers, administrators, etc) – and particularly its financial avatars – but, at the same time, foster a simmering resentment against anyone whose work has clear and undeniable social value. Clearly, the system was never consciously designed. It emerged from almost a century of trial and error. But it is the only explanation for why, despite our technological capacities, we are not all working 3-4 hour days.
Fraud, failure and bankruptcy pay well for CEOs - Al Lewis - MarketWatch
Fraud, failure and bankruptcy pay well for CEOs - Al Lewis - MarketWatch
"Fuld is among the cast of characters enumerated in a retrospective report released by the Institute for Policy Studies: “Executive Excess 2013. Bailed Out, Booted, Busted: A 20-Year Review of America’s Top-Paid CEOs.” Before 2008, he made the list of America’s top 25 highest-paid executives for eight years in a row.
"Fuld is among the cast of characters enumerated in a retrospective report released by the Institute for Policy Studies: “Executive Excess 2013. Bailed Out, Booted, Busted: A 20-Year Review of America’s Top-Paid CEOs.” Before 2008, he made the list of America’s top 25 highest-paid executives for eight years in a row.
“To be in the top 25 for eight consecutive years before you crash and burn the economy, it’s just unbelievable,” said Sarah Anderson, one of the report’s authors.
Her study analyzed 500 corporate executive positions that have been listed in The Wall Street Journal’s annual executive pay surveys over the past 20 years.
When she began this research, she expected bailed-out, booted and busted CEOs would make up maybe 15% of the sample. But no, it tallied 38%.
“These poorly performing chief executives either wound up getting fired, had to pay massive settlements or fines related to fraud charges, or led firms that crashed or had to be bailed out during the 2008 financial crisis,” the report says.
• CEOs whose firms received taxpayer bailouts or ceased to exist held 22% of these 500 slots over the past two decades.
• CEOs who were forced out of their jobs made up 8%. (This is not bad work, if you can get it: The average golden parachute was valued at $48 million.)
• CEOs who led companies paying significant fraud-related fines or settlements comprised another 8% of the sample. (Most of these settlements totaled more than $100 million.)
This isn’t even counting what the study calls “The Taxpayer Trough Club,” or CEOs who make their living with companies landing enormous government contracts. These firms — mostly defense related — garnered $255 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts. Their CEOs made up 12% of the sample.
The tally also didn’t count notoriously overpaid ne’er-do-wells such as Angelo Mozilo, former CEO of Countrywide Financial; Bernie Ebbers, the imprisoned founder of WorldCom; and “Chainsaw” Al Dunlap, who fired thousands of people at Scott Paper and other companies, and whose reign at Sunbeam ended in the company settling accounting fraud charges. They didn’t make The Wall Street Journal’s annual reports, so they weren’t in this study, Anderson said."
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Best paid CEOs are often fired or fined, study says - NBC News.com
Best paid CEOs are often fired or fined, study says - NBC News.com:
"About 40 percent of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States over the past 20 years eventually ended up being fired, paying fraud-related fines or settlements, or accepting government bailout money, according to a study released on Wednesday.
The report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a left-leaning think tank, said that chief executives for large companies received about 354 times as much pay as the average American worker in 2012. That gap has soared since 1993, when CEOs for big companies received about 195 times as much.
But the best-paying companies do not necessarily receive the best performance from their CEOs, the report said."
"About 40 percent of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States over the past 20 years eventually ended up being fired, paying fraud-related fines or settlements, or accepting government bailout money, according to a study released on Wednesday.
The report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a left-leaning think tank, said that chief executives for large companies received about 354 times as much pay as the average American worker in 2012. That gap has soared since 1993, when CEOs for big companies received about 195 times as much.
But the best-paying companies do not necessarily receive the best performance from their CEOs, the report said."
Monday, August 26, 2013
oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: The Recession That Never Ended: 2008 -2013 (and Counting)
The Recession That Never Ended: 2008 -2013 (and Counting) - oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith:
The reality is that the recession never ended for 95% of U.S. households, and by many metrics the recession has deepened. The trick is to not measure those metrics; what isn't measured doesn't exist, especially recession.
The reality is that the recession never ended for 95% of U.S. households, and by many metrics the recession has deepened. The trick is to not measure those metrics; what isn't measured doesn't exist, especially recession.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
An Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg: Is Facebook a Human Right? | Jen Schradie
An Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg: Is Facebook a Human Right? | Jen Schradie
".. the Internet in and of itself will not solve the structural problems in the developing world. Think about it this way – the economic advantages that the developed world has, often on the back of the developing world, could be fostering Internet growth, rather than the other way around.
Neoliberalism, the free market capitalist system that Facebook needs to expand globally without restrictions or taxes, is also, unfortunately, the same system that will never allow the egalitarian participatory system that you envision. These economic systems need inequality, unemployment and poverty to survive. Economics 101. For all of the 5 billion people that you describe as lacking connectivity to have equal levels of access and usage would require a more socialized economy. Market forces can not make that happen alone."
".. the Internet in and of itself will not solve the structural problems in the developing world. Think about it this way – the economic advantages that the developed world has, often on the back of the developing world, could be fostering Internet growth, rather than the other way around.
Neoliberalism, the free market capitalist system that Facebook needs to expand globally without restrictions or taxes, is also, unfortunately, the same system that will never allow the egalitarian participatory system that you envision. These economic systems need inequality, unemployment and poverty to survive. Economics 101. For all of the 5 billion people that you describe as lacking connectivity to have equal levels of access and usage would require a more socialized economy. Market forces can not make that happen alone."
How Microsoft Lost Its Mojo: Steve Ballmer and Corporate America’s Most Spectacular Decline | Vanity Fair
How Microsoft Lost Its Mojo: Steve Ballmer and Corporate America’s Most Spectacular Decline | Vanity Fair
"In December 2000, Microsoft had a market capitalization of $510 billion, making it the world’s most valuable company. As of June it is No. 3, with a market cap of $249 billion. In December 2000, Apple had a market cap of $4.8 billion and didn’t even make the list. As of this June it is No. 1 in the world, with a market cap of $541 billion."
“I see Microsoft as technology’s answer to Sears,” said Kurt Massey, a former senior marketing manager. “In the 40s, 50s, and 60s, Sears had it nailed. It was top-notch, but now it’s just a barren wasteland. And that’s Microsoft. The company just isn’t cool anymore.”
Cool is what tech consumers want. Exhibit A: today the iPhone brings in more revenue than the entirety of Microsoft.
No, really.
One Apple product, something that didn’t exist five years ago, has higher sales than everything Microsoft has to offer. More than Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, Windows Phone, and every other product that Microsoft has created since 1975. In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, iPhone had sales of $22.7 billion; Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion."
..
"At the center of the cultural problems was a management system called “stack ranking.” Every current and former Microsoft employee I interviewed—every one—cited stack ranking as the most destructive process inside of Microsoft, something that drove out untold numbers of employees. The system—also referred to as “the performance model,” “the bell curve,” or just “the employee review”—has, with certain variations over the years, worked like this: every unit was forced to declare a certain percentage of employees as top performers, then good performers, then average, then below average, then poor.
“If you were on a team of 10 people, you walked in the first day knowing that, no matter how good everyone was, two people were going to get a great review, seven were going to get mediocre reviews, and one was going to get a terrible review,” said a former software developer. “It leads to employees focusing on competing with each other rather than competing with other companies.”
Supposing Microsoft had managed to hire technology’s top players into a single unit before they made their names elsewhere—Steve Jobs of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Larry Page of Google, Larry Ellison of Oracle, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon—regardless of performance, under one of the iterations of stack ranking, two of them would have to be rated as below average, with one deemed disastrous.
Outcomes from the process were never predictable. Employees in certain divisions were given what were known as M.B.O.’s—management business objectives—which were essentially the expectations for what they would accomplish in a particular year. But even achieving every M.B.O. was no guarantee of receiving a high ranking, since some other employee could exceed the assigned performance. As a result, Microsoft employees not only tried to do a good job but also worked hard to make sure their colleagues did not.
“The behavior this engenders, people do everything they can to stay out of the bottom bucket,” one Microsoft engineer said. “People responsible for features will openly sabotage other people’s efforts. One of the most valuable things I learned was to give the appearance of being courteous while withholding just enough information from colleagues to ensure they didn’t get ahead of me on the rankings.”
Worse, because the reviews came every six months, employees and their supervisors—who were also ranked—focused on their short-term performance, rather than on longer efforts to innovate.
“The six-month reviews forced a lot of bad decision-making,” one software designer said. “People planned their days and their years around the review, rather than around products. You really had to focus on the six-month performance, rather than on doing what was right for the company.”
There was some room for bending the numbers a bit. Each team would be within a larger Microsoft group. The supervisors of the teams could have slightly more of their employees in the higher ranks so long as the full group met the required percentages. So, every six months, all of the supervisors in a single group met for a few days of horse trading.
On the first day, the supervisors—as many as 30—gather in a single conference room. Blinds are drawn; doors are closed. A grid containing possible rankings is put up—sometimes on a whiteboard, sometimes on a poster board tacked to the wall—and everyone breaks out Post-it notes. Names of team members are scribbled on the notes, then each manager takes a turn placing the slips of paper into the grid boxes. Usually, though, the numbers don’t work on the first go-round. That’s when the haggling begins.
“There are some pretty impassioned debates and the Post-it notes end up being shuffled around for days so that we can meet the bell curve,” said one Microsoft manager who has participated in a number of the sessions. “It doesn’t always work out well. I myself have had to give rankings to people that they didn’t deserve because of this forced curve.”
The best way to guarantee a higher ranking, executives said, is to keep in mind the realities of those behind-the-scenes debates—every employee has to impress not only his or her boss but bosses from other teams as well. And that means schmoozing and brown-nosing as many supervisors as possible.
“I was told in almost every review that the political game was always important for my career development,” said Brian Cody, a former Microsoft engineer. “It was always much more on ‘Let’s work on the political game’ than on improving my actual performance.”
Like other employees I interviewed, Cody said that the reality of the corporate culture slowed everything down. “It got to the point where I was second-guessing everything I was doing,” he said. “Whenever I had a question for some other team, instead of going to the developer who had the answer, I would first touch base with that developer’s manager, so that he knew what I was working on. That was the only way to be visible to other managers, which you needed for the review.”
I asked Cody whether his review was ever based on the quality of his work. He paused for a very long time. “It was always much less about how I could become a better engineer and much more about my need to improve my visibility among other managers.”
In the end, the stack-ranking system crippled the ability to innovate at Microsoft, executives said. “I wanted to build a team of people who would work together and whose only focus would be on making great software,” said Bill Hill, the former manager. “But you can’t do that at Microsoft.”
..
"When Apple introduced the iPhone, Steve Ballmer laughed. “No chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share,” he said in 2007, adding that same year, “iPod is a hot brand—not Apple.”
He pooh-poohed the iPad when it came out, in 2010, and it has been busting down the barn doors ever since, selling more than 55 million units. As for Google, Ballmer’s predictions were equally off base—according to court records, in 2005 he proclaimed, “Google’s not a real company. It’s a house of cards.”
Plenty of people can make predictions that prove boneheaded. But Ballmer’s bad calls have been particularly damaging for him inside Microsoft. Until his dying days, Steve Jobs could not only predict the direction the marketplace would be heading, but help drive it there. Google continues to pop out feature after feature and is now shooting directly at Microsoft’s main business lines: Google Docs is a free Web program competing with Microsoft Office. Google Chrome OS is a free operating system targeted at Windows.
With the competitors showing that kind of success—and winning so many accolades—Ballmer’s confidently proclaimed errors have been hugely embarrassing for Microsoft’s technical specialists, fueling muttered complaints that their C.E.O., a man with little technological background, was undermining them within the techie community."
"In December 2000, Microsoft had a market capitalization of $510 billion, making it the world’s most valuable company. As of June it is No. 3, with a market cap of $249 billion. In December 2000, Apple had a market cap of $4.8 billion and didn’t even make the list. As of this June it is No. 1 in the world, with a market cap of $541 billion."
“I see Microsoft as technology’s answer to Sears,” said Kurt Massey, a former senior marketing manager. “In the 40s, 50s, and 60s, Sears had it nailed. It was top-notch, but now it’s just a barren wasteland. And that’s Microsoft. The company just isn’t cool anymore.”
Cool is what tech consumers want. Exhibit A: today the iPhone brings in more revenue than the entirety of Microsoft.
No, really.
One Apple product, something that didn’t exist five years ago, has higher sales than everything Microsoft has to offer. More than Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, Windows Phone, and every other product that Microsoft has created since 1975. In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, iPhone had sales of $22.7 billion; Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion."
..
"At the center of the cultural problems was a management system called “stack ranking.” Every current and former Microsoft employee I interviewed—every one—cited stack ranking as the most destructive process inside of Microsoft, something that drove out untold numbers of employees. The system—also referred to as “the performance model,” “the bell curve,” or just “the employee review”—has, with certain variations over the years, worked like this: every unit was forced to declare a certain percentage of employees as top performers, then good performers, then average, then below average, then poor.
“If you were on a team of 10 people, you walked in the first day knowing that, no matter how good everyone was, two people were going to get a great review, seven were going to get mediocre reviews, and one was going to get a terrible review,” said a former software developer. “It leads to employees focusing on competing with each other rather than competing with other companies.”
Supposing Microsoft had managed to hire technology’s top players into a single unit before they made their names elsewhere—Steve Jobs of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Larry Page of Google, Larry Ellison of Oracle, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon—regardless of performance, under one of the iterations of stack ranking, two of them would have to be rated as below average, with one deemed disastrous.
Outcomes from the process were never predictable. Employees in certain divisions were given what were known as M.B.O.’s—management business objectives—which were essentially the expectations for what they would accomplish in a particular year. But even achieving every M.B.O. was no guarantee of receiving a high ranking, since some other employee could exceed the assigned performance. As a result, Microsoft employees not only tried to do a good job but also worked hard to make sure their colleagues did not.
“The behavior this engenders, people do everything they can to stay out of the bottom bucket,” one Microsoft engineer said. “People responsible for features will openly sabotage other people’s efforts. One of the most valuable things I learned was to give the appearance of being courteous while withholding just enough information from colleagues to ensure they didn’t get ahead of me on the rankings.”
Worse, because the reviews came every six months, employees and their supervisors—who were also ranked—focused on their short-term performance, rather than on longer efforts to innovate.
“The six-month reviews forced a lot of bad decision-making,” one software designer said. “People planned their days and their years around the review, rather than around products. You really had to focus on the six-month performance, rather than on doing what was right for the company.”
There was some room for bending the numbers a bit. Each team would be within a larger Microsoft group. The supervisors of the teams could have slightly more of their employees in the higher ranks so long as the full group met the required percentages. So, every six months, all of the supervisors in a single group met for a few days of horse trading.
On the first day, the supervisors—as many as 30—gather in a single conference room. Blinds are drawn; doors are closed. A grid containing possible rankings is put up—sometimes on a whiteboard, sometimes on a poster board tacked to the wall—and everyone breaks out Post-it notes. Names of team members are scribbled on the notes, then each manager takes a turn placing the slips of paper into the grid boxes. Usually, though, the numbers don’t work on the first go-round. That’s when the haggling begins.
“There are some pretty impassioned debates and the Post-it notes end up being shuffled around for days so that we can meet the bell curve,” said one Microsoft manager who has participated in a number of the sessions. “It doesn’t always work out well. I myself have had to give rankings to people that they didn’t deserve because of this forced curve.”
The best way to guarantee a higher ranking, executives said, is to keep in mind the realities of those behind-the-scenes debates—every employee has to impress not only his or her boss but bosses from other teams as well. And that means schmoozing and brown-nosing as many supervisors as possible.
“I was told in almost every review that the political game was always important for my career development,” said Brian Cody, a former Microsoft engineer. “It was always much more on ‘Let’s work on the political game’ than on improving my actual performance.”
Like other employees I interviewed, Cody said that the reality of the corporate culture slowed everything down. “It got to the point where I was second-guessing everything I was doing,” he said. “Whenever I had a question for some other team, instead of going to the developer who had the answer, I would first touch base with that developer’s manager, so that he knew what I was working on. That was the only way to be visible to other managers, which you needed for the review.”
I asked Cody whether his review was ever based on the quality of his work. He paused for a very long time. “It was always much less about how I could become a better engineer and much more about my need to improve my visibility among other managers.”
In the end, the stack-ranking system crippled the ability to innovate at Microsoft, executives said. “I wanted to build a team of people who would work together and whose only focus would be on making great software,” said Bill Hill, the former manager. “But you can’t do that at Microsoft.”
..
"When Apple introduced the iPhone, Steve Ballmer laughed. “No chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share,” he said in 2007, adding that same year, “iPod is a hot brand—not Apple.”
He pooh-poohed the iPad when it came out, in 2010, and it has been busting down the barn doors ever since, selling more than 55 million units. As for Google, Ballmer’s predictions were equally off base—according to court records, in 2005 he proclaimed, “Google’s not a real company. It’s a house of cards.”
Plenty of people can make predictions that prove boneheaded. But Ballmer’s bad calls have been particularly damaging for him inside Microsoft. Until his dying days, Steve Jobs could not only predict the direction the marketplace would be heading, but help drive it there. Google continues to pop out feature after feature and is now shooting directly at Microsoft’s main business lines: Google Docs is a free Web program competing with Microsoft Office. Google Chrome OS is a free operating system targeted at Windows.
With the competitors showing that kind of success—and winning so many accolades—Ballmer’s confidently proclaimed errors have been hugely embarrassing for Microsoft’s technical specialists, fueling muttered complaints that their C.E.O., a man with little technological background, was undermining them within the techie community."
Mark Zuckerberg: Internet missionary, Facebook colonizer | Internet & Media - CNET News
Mark Zuckerberg: Internet missionary, Facebook colonizer - CNET:
"Facebook's CEO wants to create a path to Internet access for the 5 billion people still unconnected. How nice. Of course, eventually those people will turn into a revenue stream for his company.
Mark Zuckerberg, not yet 30 but already the conquistador of 1.115 billion Facebook users, has a seemingly unquenchable imperial urge to engulf everyone on Earth via the Internet. "
"Facebook's CEO wants to create a path to Internet access for the 5 billion people still unconnected. How nice. Of course, eventually those people will turn into a revenue stream for his company.
Mark Zuckerberg, not yet 30 but already the conquistador of 1.115 billion Facebook users, has a seemingly unquenchable imperial urge to engulf everyone on Earth via the Internet. "
Steve Ballmer's Exit Sets Microsoft on New Path - WSJ.com
Steve Ballmer's Exit Sets Microsoft on New Path - WSJ.com:
"Mr. Ballmer, 57 years old, along with his college buddy and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, built the company into a profit machine whose Windows operating system will still power nearly all the 305 million personal computers expected to be sold globally this year, according to research firm Gartner Inc. But it will run just 15% of all computing devices, if PCs, smartphones, tablet computers and other gadgets connected to the Internet are lumped together, given the rise of rivals such as Apple Inc and Google Inc.
Investors cheered the news of Mr. Ballmer's departure, sending Microsoft shares up 7% to $34.75 on the Nasdaq Stock Market."
"Mr. Ballmer, 57 years old, along with his college buddy and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, built the company into a profit machine whose Windows operating system will still power nearly all the 305 million personal computers expected to be sold globally this year, according to research firm Gartner Inc. But it will run just 15% of all computing devices, if PCs, smartphones, tablet computers and other gadgets connected to the Internet are lumped together, given the rise of rivals such as Apple Inc and Google Inc.
Investors cheered the news of Mr. Ballmer's departure, sending Microsoft shares up 7% to $34.75 on the Nasdaq Stock Market."
Friday, August 23, 2013
Sales of New U.S. Homes Fell More Than Forecast in July - Bloomberg
Sales of New U.S. Homes Fell More Than Forecast in July - Bloomberg:
"Purchases of new U.S. homes plunged 13.4 percent in July, the most in more than three years, raising concern higher mortgage rates will slow the real-estate rebound.
Sales fell to a 394,000 annualized pace, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The reading was the weakest since October and was lower than any of the forecasts by 74 economists Bloomberg surveyed."
"Purchases of new U.S. homes plunged 13.4 percent in July, the most in more than three years, raising concern higher mortgage rates will slow the real-estate rebound.
Sales fell to a 394,000 annualized pace, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The reading was the weakest since October and was lower than any of the forecasts by 74 economists Bloomberg surveyed."
King’s Dream Remains an Elusive Goal; Many Americans See Racial Disparities | Pew Social & Demographic Trends
King’s Dream Remains an Elusive Goal; Many Americans See Racial Disparities | Pew Social & Demographic Trends: "
Five decades after Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., a new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that fewer than half (45%) of all Americans say the country has made substantial progress toward racial equality and about the same share (49%) say that “a lot more” remains to be done.
Blacks are much more downbeat than whites about the pace of progress toward a color-blind society. They are also more likely to say that blacks are treated less fairly than whites by police, the courts, public schools and other key community institutions."
Five decades after Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., a new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that fewer than half (45%) of all Americans say the country has made substantial progress toward racial equality and about the same share (49%) say that “a lot more” remains to be done.
Blacks are much more downbeat than whites about the pace of progress toward a color-blind society. They are also more likely to say that blacks are treated less fairly than whites by police, the courts, public schools and other key community institutions."
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Recession’s pain reaching deep into the economic recovery - The Washington Post
Recession’s pain reaching deep into the economic recovery - The Washington Post:
“Median income is affected by trends in inequality, and you are seeing that to the extent there has been income growth in the past decade, it has disproportionately gone to those at the top and very top,” said Gregory Acs, director of the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute, a research organization.
“Median income is affected by trends in inequality, and you are seeing that to the extent there has been income growth in the past decade, it has disproportionately gone to those at the top and very top,” said Gregory Acs, director of the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute, a research organization.
Saturday, August 03, 2013
A Rising Share of Young Adults Live in Their Parents’ Home | Pew Social & Demographic Trends
A Rising Share of Young Adults Live in Their Parents’ Home | Pew Social & Demographic Trends: "In 2012, 36% of the nation’s young adults ages 18 to 31—the so-called Millennial generation—were living in their parents’ home, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. This is the highest share in at least four decades and represents a slow but steady increase over the 32% of their same-aged counterparts who were living at home prior to the Great Recession in 2007 and the 34% doing so when it officially ended in 2009.
A record total of 21.6 million Millennials lived in their parents’ home in 2012, up from 18.5 million of their same aged counterparts in 2007. Of these, at least a third and perhaps as many as half are college students."
A record total of 21.6 million Millennials lived in their parents’ home in 2012, up from 18.5 million of their same aged counterparts in 2007. Of these, at least a third and perhaps as many as half are college students."
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
American Dream Slipping as Homeownership at 18-Year Low - Bloomberg
American Dream Slipping as Homeownership at 18-Year Low - Bloomberg
"The U.S. homeownership rate, which soared to a record high 69.2 percent in 2004, is back where it was two decades ago, before the housing bubble inflated, busted and ripped more than 7 million Americans from their homes."
"First-time buyers and minorities are among the groups that have seen the sharpest declines since the crash. While property ownership among senior citizens was little changed at about 81 percent, the share below age 35 that own a home fell to about 37 percent from almost 42 percent five years earlier.
"The U.S. homeownership rate, which soared to a record high 69.2 percent in 2004, is back where it was two decades ago, before the housing bubble inflated, busted and ripped more than 7 million Americans from their homes."
"First-time buyers and minorities are among the groups that have seen the sharpest declines since the crash. While property ownership among senior citizens was little changed at about 81 percent, the share below age 35 that own a home fell to about 37 percent from almost 42 percent five years earlier.
The rate for blacks reached almost 50 percent in the second quarter of 2004 from about 43 percent in 1995, Census Bureau data show. By the second quarter of this year, it had dropped to 42.9 percent. The rate for whites fell to 73.3 percent in the second quarter, from 76.2 percent in 2004."
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Tom Friedman: A New Ayn Rand for A Dark Digital Future | Richard (RJ) Eskow
Tom Friedman: A New Ayn Rand for A Dark Digital Future | Richard (RJ) Eskow
Well written piece on Tom Friedman.
"If Thomas Friedman didn't exist, America's high-tech entrepreneurs would have had to invent him. Come to think of it, maybe they did. The dark science-fiction vision he celebrates serves them well, at pretty much everyone else's expense.
Friedman's vision is worth studying, if only because it reflects the distorted perspective of some very wealthy and influential people. In their world the problems of the many are as easily fixed as a line of code, with no sacrifice required of them or their fellow billionaires."
.. .
"Friedman glorifies globalization and the destruction of good jobs. He's indifferent to the loss of social mobility and infatuated with mediocre or at best mildly clever web enterprises. Friedman is the praise singer of Palo Alto, the griot of Los Gatos, and he's never met a Internet billionaire he didn't like.
Thomas Friedman is the perfect mirror for the undeserved self-infatuation which has infected our corporate, media, and political class. He's the chief fabulist of the detached elite, the unfettered Id of the global aristocracy, the Horatio Alger of self-deluded, self-serving, self-promoting techno-hucksterism.
But give the man his due: When it comes to "building your brand reputation," Friedman's a master of the art."
Well written piece on Tom Friedman.
"If Thomas Friedman didn't exist, America's high-tech entrepreneurs would have had to invent him. Come to think of it, maybe they did. The dark science-fiction vision he celebrates serves them well, at pretty much everyone else's expense.
Friedman's vision is worth studying, if only because it reflects the distorted perspective of some very wealthy and influential people. In their world the problems of the many are as easily fixed as a line of code, with no sacrifice required of them or their fellow billionaires."
.. .
"Friedman glorifies globalization and the destruction of good jobs. He's indifferent to the loss of social mobility and infatuated with mediocre or at best mildly clever web enterprises. Friedman is the praise singer of Palo Alto, the griot of Los Gatos, and he's never met a Internet billionaire he didn't like.
Thomas Friedman is the perfect mirror for the undeserved self-infatuation which has infected our corporate, media, and political class. He's the chief fabulist of the detached elite, the unfettered Id of the global aristocracy, the Horatio Alger of self-deluded, self-serving, self-promoting techno-hucksterism.
But give the man his due: When it comes to "building your brand reputation," Friedman's a master of the art."
JPMorgan Accused of Gaming Energy Bids as FERC Deal Looms - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Accused of Gaming Energy Bids as FERC Deal Looms - Bloomberg
"A JPMorgan trading unit gamed wholesale electricity markets from September 2010 to June 2011, leading to overpayment of “tens of millions of dollars at rates far above market prices” in California alone, FERC staff said in a Notice of Alleged Violations yesterday."
“These schemes are very complex, and it seems that the banks and the manipulators are always 10 steps ahead of the regulators,” Slocum said. “We need to have a review to determine whether or not these markets are working as advertised.”
"A JPMorgan trading unit gamed wholesale electricity markets from September 2010 to June 2011, leading to overpayment of “tens of millions of dollars at rates far above market prices” in California alone, FERC staff said in a Notice of Alleged Violations yesterday."
“These schemes are very complex, and it seems that the banks and the manipulators are always 10 steps ahead of the regulators,” Slocum said. “We need to have a review to determine whether or not these markets are working as advertised.”
Sunday, July 28, 2013
4 in 5 in USA face near-poverty, no work
4 in 5 in USA face near-poverty, no work
"Nationwide, the count of America's poor remains stuck at a record number: 46.2 million, or 15% of the population, due in part to lingering high unemployment following the recession. While poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics are nearly three times higher, by absolute numbers the predominant face of the poor is white.
More than 19 million whites fall below the poverty line of $23,021 for a family of four, accounting for more than 41% of the nation's destitute, nearly double the number of poor blacks."
"In 2011, that snapshot showed 12.6% of adults in their prime working-age years of 25-60 lived in poverty. But measured in terms of a person's lifetime risk, a much higher number — 4 in 10 adults — falls into poverty for at least a year of their lives.
The risks of poverty also have been increasing in recent decades, particularly among people ages 35-55, coinciding with widening income inequality. For instance, people ages 35-45 had a 17% risk of encountering poverty during the 1969-1989 time period; that risk increased to 23% during the 1989-2009 period. For those ages 45-55, the risk of poverty jumped from 11.8% to 17.7%.
Higher recent rates of unemployment mean the lifetime risk of experiencing economic insecurity now runs even higher: 79%, or 4 in 5 adults, by the time they turn 60."
"Nationwide, the count of America's poor remains stuck at a record number: 46.2 million, or 15% of the population, due in part to lingering high unemployment following the recession. While poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics are nearly three times higher, by absolute numbers the predominant face of the poor is white.
More than 19 million whites fall below the poverty line of $23,021 for a family of four, accounting for more than 41% of the nation's destitute, nearly double the number of poor blacks."
"In 2011, that snapshot showed 12.6% of adults in their prime working-age years of 25-60 lived in poverty. But measured in terms of a person's lifetime risk, a much higher number — 4 in 10 adults — falls into poverty for at least a year of their lives.
The risks of poverty also have been increasing in recent decades, particularly among people ages 35-55, coinciding with widening income inequality. For instance, people ages 35-45 had a 17% risk of encountering poverty during the 1969-1989 time period; that risk increased to 23% during the 1989-2009 period. For those ages 45-55, the risk of poverty jumped from 11.8% to 17.7%.
Higher recent rates of unemployment mean the lifetime risk of experiencing economic insecurity now runs even higher: 79%, or 4 in 5 adults, by the time they turn 60."
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Royal baby birth on the cheap? Why US births can cost much more. - CSMonitor.com
Royal baby birth on the cheap? Why US births can cost much more.
"For women without insurance in the United States, or for the 62 percent of women in private insurance plans that lack maternity coverage, the cost of maternity care could range from $4,000 to $45,000.
Comparatively, the cost of delivery at the duchess’s posh birthing suite, the same place where Princes William and Harry were born in the 1980s, reportedly costs up to £10,000, or about $15,300."
"For women without insurance in the United States, or for the 62 percent of women in private insurance plans that lack maternity coverage, the cost of maternity care could range from $4,000 to $45,000.
Comparatively, the cost of delivery at the duchess’s posh birthing suite, the same place where Princes William and Harry were born in the 1980s, reportedly costs up to £10,000, or about $15,300."
It’s Not Everyone’s Time to Buy a Home - NYTimes.com
It’s Not Everyone’s Time to Buy a Home - NYTimes.com
Carl Richards
"John Paulson doesn’t know me or my situation.
There is absolutely no reason I should be making decisions based on something he said. The same is true for any other “expert” who decides to share his guess about what he thinks will happen next in the housing market.
The same holds true for the other three people who just happened to express similar concerns to me about buying right now. Two were convinced that if they didn’t buy a house now, they’d be priced out of the market, and maybe they will be. But I heard that argument a lot in 2005-6."
"So if you’re struggling with this decision to buy (or sell), take a minute to think through these questions and write down the answers, because I suspect you’ll need to refer back to them the next time somebody decides to share what he thinks will happen with housing market. This list is not meant to be prescriptive. It is meant to get you thinking about something other than forecasts and guesses.
■ Can you afford it, and do you have enough saved for a down payment? Make sure you include the cost for things like property taxes, homeowner association fees and utilities.
■ Can you qualify for a loan? If the answer right now is no, then you can stop torturing yourself, because it doesn’t matter if the market is about to take off. You can’t buy a house.
■ How long do you plan to live in the home? There’s some debate about the minimum time you should live in a home for it to be worthwhile, but if it’s less than five years, forget about it.
■ What guess are you making about housing prices? It is a painful reality that the one variable that makes a huge difference in this decision is unknowable. What is going to happen to housing prices in the short term is anyone’s guess. But for your own sanity, just assume that housing prices will continue to increase by about the long-term average of inflation, or 3 percent. You really can’t afford to buy a house if the decision depends solely on what the house might one day be worth."
Most in US say nation is headed off track: NBC-WSJ poll - Yahoo! Finance
Most in US say nation is headed off track: NBC-WSJ poll
"Some 61 percent of Americans polled say the nation is headed off on the wrong track compared to 29 percent who say it's headed in the right direction; that compares to the 53 percent and 41 percent, respectively, findings last December in the wake of President Obama's re-election.
Mr. Obama's own job approval has declined to 45 percent, with 50 percent disapproving; that's down from 53-43 percent in December. Congress drew its worst approval score in the quarter-century history, with just 12 percent approving and 83 percent percent disapproving. Americans rate House Speaker John Boehner negatively by a two to one margin, with 36 percent expressing negative views and 18 percent positive."
"In the wake of the Zimmerman trial for the shooting deal of Trayvon Martin, some 52 percent of Americans call U.S. race relations good, 44 percent bad. But that conceals an enormous racial disparity, since 58 percent of African-Americans describe race relations as bad. While 59 percent of whites say the U.S. is a place where people are judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, on 19 percent of blacks agree."
"Some 61 percent of Americans polled say the nation is headed off on the wrong track compared to 29 percent who say it's headed in the right direction; that compares to the 53 percent and 41 percent, respectively, findings last December in the wake of President Obama's re-election.
Mr. Obama's own job approval has declined to 45 percent, with 50 percent disapproving; that's down from 53-43 percent in December. Congress drew its worst approval score in the quarter-century history, with just 12 percent approving and 83 percent percent disapproving. Americans rate House Speaker John Boehner negatively by a two to one margin, with 36 percent expressing negative views and 18 percent positive."
"In the wake of the Zimmerman trial for the shooting deal of Trayvon Martin, some 52 percent of Americans call U.S. race relations good, 44 percent bad. But that conceals an enormous racial disparity, since 58 percent of African-Americans describe race relations as bad. While 59 percent of whites say the U.S. is a place where people are judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, on 19 percent of blacks agree."
Monday, July 22, 2013
Detroit, and the Bankruptcy of America’s Social Contract
Detroit, and the Bankruptcy of America’s Social Contract - Robert Reich
"It’s roughly analogous to a Wall Street bank drawing a boundary around its bad assets, selling them off at a fire-sale price, and writing off the loss. Only here we’re dealing with human beings rather than financial capital. And the upcoming fire sale will likely result in even worse municipal services, lousier schools, and more crime for those left behind in the city of Detroit. In an era of widening inequality, this is how wealthier Americans are quietly writing off the poor."
"It’s roughly analogous to a Wall Street bank drawing a boundary around its bad assets, selling them off at a fire-sale price, and writing off the loss. Only here we’re dealing with human beings rather than financial capital. And the upcoming fire sale will likely result in even worse municipal services, lousier schools, and more crime for those left behind in the city of Detroit. In an era of widening inequality, this is how wealthier Americans are quietly writing off the poor."
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Goldman and Other Big Banks Should be Banned from Commodities Trading
Goldman and Other Big Banks Should be Banned from Commodities Trading
"Name me one market these banks haven`t tried to manipulate or Rig? Whether it is the recent settlements or future settlements in the Power Industry or the many manipulative practices discussed regarding “Metals Warehousing” to outright manipulation of key commodities by artificially taking supply off the market which has happened many times in the history of the oil markets.
The point is these firms cannot be trusted, their past behavior in anything market related from CDS, MBS to levering up their balance sheets by 40 to 1 ratios, should serve as a warning to any critical regulative body that it is a bad idea to let them “play” around in any essential commodity that consumers rely on for daily living purposes."
Friday, July 19, 2013
Middle class still left behind in U.S. economic recovery, data show - The Washington Post
Middle class still left behind in U.S. economic recovery, data show - The Washington Post
“It’s a pathetic recovery,” said Thea Lee, an economist and the union’s deputy chief of staff. “It really is extraordinary that four years ago we declared the recession over, but we’re not even within spitting distance of full employment.”
“It’s a pathetic recovery,” said Thea Lee, an economist and the union’s deputy chief of staff. “It really is extraordinary that four years ago we declared the recession over, but we’re not even within spitting distance of full employment.”
Detroit’s half-century of steady decline - The Washington Post
Detroit’s half-century of steady decline - The Washington Post
"Once known as the “Paris of the West” and home to America’s bustling auto industry, Detroit filed for bankruptcy after fighting steady decline for half a century.
In the 1950s, Detroit, known worldwide as the Motor City, had one of the highest per capita incomes in the country when auto plants were hiring wholesale. Now it has the highest rate of violent crime among the nation’s big cities. Average police response time is almost an hour. Nearly 80,000 buildings are abandoned or seriously blighted, and 40 percent of the city’s streetlights do not work. The jobless rate is above 18 percent, more than twice the national rate."
"Once known as the “Paris of the West” and home to America’s bustling auto industry, Detroit filed for bankruptcy after fighting steady decline for half a century.
In the 1950s, Detroit, known worldwide as the Motor City, had one of the highest per capita incomes in the country when auto plants were hiring wholesale. Now it has the highest rate of violent crime among the nation’s big cities. Average police response time is almost an hour. Nearly 80,000 buildings are abandoned or seriously blighted, and 40 percent of the city’s streetlights do not work. The jobless rate is above 18 percent, more than twice the national rate."
Monday, July 15, 2013
7 Ways the Zimmerman Mindset Permeates America's Criminal Justice System | Alternet
7 Ways the Zimmerman Mindset Permeates America's Criminal Justice System
"The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid."
"The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid."
Friday, July 12, 2013
Two Sentences that Explain the Crisis and How Easy it Was to Avoid | The Big Picture
Two Sentences that Explain the Crisis and How Easy it Was to Avoid | The Big Picture
“From 2000 to 2007, [appraisers] ultimately delivered to Washington officials a petition; signed by 11,000 appraisers…it charged that lenders were pressuring appraisers to place artificially high prices on properties. According to the petition, lenders were ‘blacklisting honest appraisers’ and instead assigning business only to appraisers who would hit the desired price targets” (FCIC 2011: 18).
“From 2000 to 2007, [appraisers] ultimately delivered to Washington officials a petition; signed by 11,000 appraisers…it charged that lenders were pressuring appraisers to place artificially high prices on properties. According to the petition, lenders were ‘blacklisting honest appraisers’ and instead assigning business only to appraisers who would hit the desired price targets” (FCIC 2011: 18).
Monday, July 08, 2013
It’s Not Just Thomson Reuters – Elite Investors Get Tons of Unfair Advantages: Blodget | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance
Elite Investors Get Tons of Unfair Advantages - Yahoo! Finance
“The market will never, ever be safe for the little guy,” says Blodget. “So anything we do that makes it appear a little bit safer…is actually worse because then people think they are on the same playing field as the little guy.”
“The market will never, ever be safe for the little guy,” says Blodget. “So anything we do that makes it appear a little bit safer…is actually worse because then people think they are on the same playing field as the little guy.”
Friday, June 28, 2013
Where Are the Libor Cases Against U.S. Banks? - Bloomberg
Where Are the Libor Cases Against U.S. Banks? - Bloomberg
"It would look awfully strange if the U.S. government wound up targeting only foreign banks as part of its investigation into the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate. It’s too soon to say if that will be the end result. But time is marching quickly."
"It would look awfully strange if the U.S. government wound up targeting only foreign banks as part of its investigation into the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate. It’s too soon to say if that will be the end result. But time is marching quickly."
Homebuilders Hurt by Housing Hangover | The Big Picture
Homebuilders Hurt by Housing Hangover | The Big Picture
"Bottom line, the distressed market was “the” housing market for years. It’s what everybody wanted. It has been absolutely responsible for the short squeeze in housing over the past 18 months and a large percent of house price gains (of course, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate being forced down in QE3 from 5% to 3.5% was worth 15% to house prices as well). And the artificial lack of distressed due to loan mods, new anti-foreclosure laws, and perma foreclosure timeline extending — coupled with rates back to pre-QE3 levels — will be responsible for “Hangover 2″ that follows."
"Bottom line, the distressed market was “the” housing market for years. It’s what everybody wanted. It has been absolutely responsible for the short squeeze in housing over the past 18 months and a large percent of house price gains (of course, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate being forced down in QE3 from 5% to 3.5% was worth 15% to house prices as well). And the artificial lack of distressed due to loan mods, new anti-foreclosure laws, and perma foreclosure timeline extending — coupled with rates back to pre-QE3 levels — will be responsible for “Hangover 2″ that follows."
Who killed the American dream? - Rex Nutting - MarketWatch
Who killed the American dream? - Rex Nutting - MarketWatch
"Corporate executives receive millions in excess compensation because of rent-seeking. Many executives are mediocre at their jobs, yet receive extravagant pay packages, regardless of their performance. CEO pay increased by 14 times from the late 1970s to 2000, more than twice as fast as stock prices did, ....
"Corporate executives receive millions in excess compensation because of rent-seeking. Many executives are mediocre at their jobs, yet receive extravagant pay packages, regardless of their performance. CEO pay increased by 14 times from the late 1970s to 2000, more than twice as fast as stock prices did, ....
CEOs in other countries earn half as much for doing the same job. And we manage to find qualified people to lead other complex organizations without paying them an average of $14 million a year: The president of the United States makes $450,000 a year, including expenses. The chairman of the Federal Reserve makes just under $200,000. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff makes about $250,000."
Thursday, June 27, 2013
CEO Pay in 2012 Was Extraordinarily High Relative to Typical Workers and Other High Earners | Economic Policy Institute
CEO Pay in 2012 Was Extraordinarily High Relative to Typical Workers and Other High Earners | Economic Policy Institute
"Depending on the CEO compensation measure, U.S. CEOs of major companies earned 20.1 or 18.3 times more than a typical worker in 1965; this ratio grew to 29.0-to-1 or 26.5-to-1 in 1978 and 58.5-to-1 or 53.3-to-1 by 1989 and then surged in the 1990s to hit 383.4-to-1 or 411.3-to-1 by the end of the recovery in 2000. The fall in the stock market after 2000 reduced CEO stock-related pay (e.g., options) and caused CEO compensation to tumble until 2002 and 2003. CEO compensation recovered to a level of 351.3 times worker pay by 2007, almost back to its 2000 level using the option-realized metric. The CEO-to-worker compensation ratio based on options-granted, however, returned only to 244.1-to-1 in 2007, still far below its height in 2000 (yet still substantially higher than the 1995 ratio of 136.8). The financial crisis in 2008 and accompanying stock market decline reduced CEO compensation after 2007–2008, as discussed above, and the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio fell in tandem. By 2012 the stock market had recouped much of the value it lost following the financial crisis. Likewise, CEO compensation has grown from its 2009 low, and the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio in 2012 had recovered to 272.9-to-1 or 202.3-to-1, depending on the measurement of options."
"Depending on the CEO compensation measure, U.S. CEOs of major companies earned 20.1 or 18.3 times more than a typical worker in 1965; this ratio grew to 29.0-to-1 or 26.5-to-1 in 1978 and 58.5-to-1 or 53.3-to-1 by 1989 and then surged in the 1990s to hit 383.4-to-1 or 411.3-to-1 by the end of the recovery in 2000. The fall in the stock market after 2000 reduced CEO stock-related pay (e.g., options) and caused CEO compensation to tumble until 2002 and 2003. CEO compensation recovered to a level of 351.3 times worker pay by 2007, almost back to its 2000 level using the option-realized metric. The CEO-to-worker compensation ratio based on options-granted, however, returned only to 244.1-to-1 in 2007, still far below its height in 2000 (yet still substantially higher than the 1995 ratio of 136.8). The financial crisis in 2008 and accompanying stock market decline reduced CEO compensation after 2007–2008, as discussed above, and the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio fell in tandem. By 2012 the stock market had recouped much of the value it lost following the financial crisis. Likewise, CEO compensation has grown from its 2009 low, and the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio in 2012 had recovered to 272.9-to-1 or 202.3-to-1, depending on the measurement of options."
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Forget a gold watch: McKesson CEO is getting a $159M retirement ‘gold mine’ - NY Daily News
Forget a gold watch: McKesson CEO is getting a $159M retirement ‘gold mine’ - NY Daily News: John Hammergren, chairman and CEO of McKesson Corp., has set a mind-boggling record of $159 million for the largest retirement package in U.S. corporate history. But an expert on executive compensation reportedly calls the benefit ‘excessive,’ since Hammergren is paid roughly $50 million annually.
Friday, June 21, 2013
How Google hires people - Business Insider
How Google hires people - Business Insider
"Google also used to be famous for posing impossibly difficult and punishing brain teasers during interviews." ... After many employers caught on to this theme, now it says : "Turns out those questions are"a complete waste of time," according to Bock. "They don’t predict anything. They serve primarily to make the interviewer feel smart."
"Google also used to be famous for posing impossibly difficult and punishing brain teasers during interviews." ... After many employers caught on to this theme, now it says : "Turns out those questions are"a complete waste of time," according to Bock. "They don’t predict anything. They serve primarily to make the interviewer feel smart."
Bank of America Bribed Employees Into Screwing Homeowners - Because Finance Is Boring
Bank of America Bribed Employees Into Screwing Homeowners - Because Finance Is Boring
So, instead of helping homeowners through the program DESIGNED to keep them out of foreclosure (HAMP), the program many members of Congress demanded in order to sign up for TARP, which SAVED BANK OF AMERICA from bankrupty, instead of following the rules and NOT BEING EVIL, Bank of America decided, “Nah, let’s just lie and destory docs and fuck homeowners.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Time to Buy a House? Not on Your Life! » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
Time to Buy a House? Not on Your Life! - Mike Whitney
"Anyone who buys a house in today’s market should be aware of the risks. They should know that current prices are not supported by fundamentals, but by unprecedented manipulation by the Fed, the Obama administration, Wall Street Private Equity investors, and the nation’s biggest banks. If any of these main-players withdraws or even reduces their support for the market (in other words, if the banks release more of their distressed inventory, if rates rise, if PE firms buy fewer homes, or if the Congress curtails current mortgage modification programs), housing prices will fall."
"Anyone who buys a house in today’s market should be aware of the risks. They should know that current prices are not supported by fundamentals, but by unprecedented manipulation by the Fed, the Obama administration, Wall Street Private Equity investors, and the nation’s biggest banks. If any of these main-players withdraws or even reduces their support for the market (in other words, if the banks release more of their distressed inventory, if rates rise, if PE firms buy fewer homes, or if the Congress curtails current mortgage modification programs), housing prices will fall."
Monday, June 10, 2013
CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: Labor's Falling Share, Everywhere
CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: Labor's Falling Share, Everywhere
"The OECD has observed, for example, that over the period from 1990 to 2009 the share of labour compensation in national income declined in 26 out of 30 developed economies for which data were available, and calculated that the median labour share of national income across these countries fell considerably from 66.1 per cent to 61.7 per cent ... Looking beyond the advanced economies, the ILO World of Work Report 2011 found that the decline in the labour income share was even more pronounced in many emerging and developing countries, with considerable declines in Asia and North Africa and more stable but still declining wage shares in Latin America."
"The OECD has observed, for example, that over the period from 1990 to 2009 the share of labour compensation in national income declined in 26 out of 30 developed economies for which data were available, and calculated that the median labour share of national income across these countries fell considerably from 66.1 per cent to 61.7 per cent ... Looking beyond the advanced economies, the ILO World of Work Report 2011 found that the decline in the labour income share was even more pronounced in many emerging and developing countries, with considerable declines in Asia and North Africa and more stable but still declining wage shares in Latin America."
Why the Super-Rich Love Bubbles | The Reformed Broker
Why the Super-Rich Love Bubbles | The Reformed Broker
"What you'll see is a regular pattern of stock market crashes followed by the rapid recovery of income share by the top .01%. The super-rich have been benefitting disproportionately from this boom/bust pattern that Alan Greenspan kicked into high gear with his doctrine of defending asset prices at all costs."
"What you'll see is a regular pattern of stock market crashes followed by the rapid recovery of income share by the top .01%. The super-rich have been benefitting disproportionately from this boom/bust pattern that Alan Greenspan kicked into high gear with his doctrine of defending asset prices at all costs."
Madoff, other felons say markets are unfair - MarketWatch
Madoff, other felons say markets are unfair - MarketWatch
"MarketWatch found that insider trading may be one of the most common crimes on Wall Street and one of the least prosecuted. And that was only the beginning. MarketWatch discovered that the problem for retail investors goes far beyond a failure of regulators to identify insider-trading violations.
The financial criminals we spoke with said that not only do many investors routinely skirt insider-trading laws, but the explosion of computerized high-speed trading in recent years has made the situation even more unfair for the retail investor.
Those retail investors should be careful when relying on audited financial statements because accounting fraud continues unabated, according to one interview. Accounting-fraud cases are complex, and regulators don’t have the resources to enforce the law effectively, according to one felon."
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Zillow CEO: Rising Mortgage Rates May Trap You - Yahoo! Finance
Zillow CEO: Rising Mortgage Rates May Trap You
"The reason for the limited supply is that "44 percent of Americans with a mortgage are effectively in a negative equity position," he said. "Meaning if they sold their home, they wouldn't be able to clear their mortgage. They're basically trapped in their home and can't list."
""We're now seeing unsustainably high rates of appreciation," Rascoff said. "In Phoenix, in San Francisco, in Orange County and San Jose, [Calif.], 20-plus percent year-over-year appreciation. Far too high. We've come back too fast. It's concerning."
"The reason for the limited supply is that "44 percent of Americans with a mortgage are effectively in a negative equity position," he said. "Meaning if they sold their home, they wouldn't be able to clear their mortgage. They're basically trapped in their home and can't list."
""We're now seeing unsustainably high rates of appreciation," Rascoff said. "In Phoenix, in San Francisco, in Orange County and San Jose, [Calif.], 20-plus percent year-over-year appreciation. Far too high. We've come back too fast. It's concerning."
Sunday, June 02, 2013
Inside San Jose's largest homeless encampment, the Jungle - San Jose Mercury News
Inside San Jose's largest homeless encampment, the Jungle - San Jose Mercury News
"If you're out here, the system has failed you...The safety net that was supposed to catch you didn't. I think it's a terrible statement for our community that there are people who believe this is their best option. This is a terrible, terrible place for anyone to live."
"If you're out here, the system has failed you...The safety net that was supposed to catch you didn't. I think it's a terrible statement for our community that there are people who believe this is their best option. This is a terrible, terrible place for anyone to live."
Friday, May 31, 2013
U.S. stands out as a rich country where a growing minority say they can’t afford food | Pew Research Center
U.S. stands out as a rich country where a growing minority say they can’t afford food | Pew Research Center
"Despite being the richest country in the survey, nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) say they had trouble putting food on the table in the past 12 months. This is up from just 16% who reported such deprivation in 2007, the year before the Great Recession began.
Americans’ reported level of deprivation is closer to that experienced by Indonesians or Greeks than it is the British or the Canadians. In fact, the percentage of Americans who say they could not afford the food needed by their families at some point in the last year is three times that in Germany, more than twice that in Italy and Canada."
Americans have rebuilt less than half of wealth lost to the recession, study says - The Washington Post
Americans have rebuilt less than half of wealth lost to the recession, study says - The Washington Post
"In addition, the report showed most of the improvement was due to gains in the stock market, which primarily benefit wealthy families. That means the recovery for other households has been even weaker."
"In addition, the report showed most of the improvement was due to gains in the stock market, which primarily benefit wealthy families. That means the recovery for other households has been even weaker."
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The ‘cult of capitalism’ and U.S. moral decline - Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch
The ‘cult of capitalism’ and U.S. moral decline - Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch
"Wall Street’s greedy narcissists are unwittingly sabotaging the economy, lost in their silent conspiracy, controlling the invisible hand, in a costly war that will again lead, as in 2000 and 2008, to the fulfillment of the death wish of the cult of capitalism."
"Wall Street’s greedy narcissists are unwittingly sabotaging the economy, lost in their silent conspiracy, controlling the invisible hand, in a costly war that will again lead, as in 2000 and 2008, to the fulfillment of the death wish of the cult of capitalism."
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Monsanto sows seeds of protest - MarketWatch
Monsanto sows seeds of protest - MarketWatch
"For many protesters, it comes down to this slogan: “Either mankind will stop Monsanto or Monsanto will stop mankind.”
"Monsanto recently short-circuited this process by lobbying Washington lawmakers to slip a provision into a bill that President Barack Obama signed into law. It requires the USDA to ignore court rulings and permit planting of genetically engineered crops — even if courts deem them potentially unsafe — as the agency conducts further reviews. ... Imagine Boeing getting a law passed that allowed airlines to keep flying the Dreamliner while conflicted bureaucrats studied why its batteries caught fire in midflight."
"For many protesters, it comes down to this slogan: “Either mankind will stop Monsanto or Monsanto will stop mankind.”
"Monsanto recently short-circuited this process by lobbying Washington lawmakers to slip a provision into a bill that President Barack Obama signed into law. It requires the USDA to ignore court rulings and permit planting of genetically engineered crops — even if courts deem them potentially unsafe — as the agency conducts further reviews. ... Imagine Boeing getting a law passed that allowed airlines to keep flying the Dreamliner while conflicted bureaucrats studied why its batteries caught fire in midflight."
Monday, May 27, 2013
The Real Numbers: Half of America in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward | Alternet
The Real Numbers: Half of America in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward
"Analysis of Economic Policy Institute data shows that Mitt Romney's famous 47 percent, the alleged 'takers,' have taken nothing."
"The IRS reports that the highest wage in the bottom half of earners is about $34,000. To be eligible for food assistance, a family can earn up to 130% of the federal poverty line, or about $30,000 for a family of four. "
"Analysis of Economic Policy Institute data shows that Mitt Romney's famous 47 percent, the alleged 'takers,' have taken nothing."
"The IRS reports that the highest wage in the bottom half of earners is about $34,000. To be eligible for food assistance, a family can earn up to 130% of the federal poverty line, or about $30,000 for a family of four. "
America is the only rich country that doesn’t guarantee paid vacation or holidays
America is the only rich country that doesn’t guarantee paid vacation or holidays
"The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation. European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with legal requirements of 25 and even 30 or more days in some countries. Australia and New Zealand both require employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per year; Canada and Japan mandate at least 10 paid days off. The gap between paid time off in the United States and the rest of the world is even larger if we include legally mandated paid holidays, where the United States offers none, but most of the rest of the world’s rich countries offer at least six paid holidays per year. "
" Of course, in practice, richer workers are able to negotiate for both paid vacation and paid holidays. It’s poorer workers who can’t take any time off."
"So among richer workers, almost all employers offer paid vacation and holidays, and quite a bit of it. Among poorer workers, less than half get paid vacation, and even when they do, their employers offer a lot less of it. This is one more way in which the poor often end up working much harder than the rich."
"The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation. European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with legal requirements of 25 and even 30 or more days in some countries. Australia and New Zealand both require employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per year; Canada and Japan mandate at least 10 paid days off. The gap between paid time off in the United States and the rest of the world is even larger if we include legally mandated paid holidays, where the United States offers none, but most of the rest of the world’s rich countries offer at least six paid holidays per year. "
" Of course, in practice, richer workers are able to negotiate for both paid vacation and paid holidays. It’s poorer workers who can’t take any time off."
"So among richer workers, almost all employers offer paid vacation and holidays, and quite a bit of it. Among poorer workers, less than half get paid vacation, and even when they do, their employers offer a lot less of it. This is one more way in which the poor often end up working much harder than the rich."
Sunday, May 26, 2013
More Evidence Banks Violated Mortgage Pact: NY Attorney General
More Evidence Banks Violated Mortgage Pact: NY Attorney General
Schneiderman has said that, since last October, his office had documented 339 violations of standards—210 by Wells Fargo and 129 by Bank of America—dictating the timeline for banks to process mortgage modification applications.
Schneiderman has said that, since last October, his office had documented 339 violations of standards—210 by Wells Fargo and 129 by Bank of America—dictating the timeline for banks to process mortgage modification applications.
Protesters around the world march against Monsanto
Protesters around the world march against Monsanto
Organizers said "March Against Monsanto" protests were held in 52 countries and 436 cities, including Los Angeles where demonstrators waved signs that read "Real Food 4 Real People" and "Label GMOs, It's Our Right to Know."
Organizers said "March Against Monsanto" protests were held in 52 countries and 436 cities, including Los Angeles where demonstrators waved signs that read "Real Food 4 Real People" and "Label GMOs, It's Our Right to Know."
Friday, May 24, 2013
Calculated Risk: Update: The Two Bottoms for Housing
Calculated Risk: Update: The Two Bottoms for Housing
"There are usually two bottoms for housing: the first for new home sales, housing starts and residential investment, and the second bottom is for house prices...Now it appears activity bottomed in 2009 through 2011 (depending on the measure) and real house prices bottomed in early 2012."
"There are usually two bottoms for housing: the first for new home sales, housing starts and residential investment, and the second bottom is for house prices...Now it appears activity bottomed in 2009 through 2011 (depending on the measure) and real house prices bottomed in early 2012."
Friday, May 17, 2013
Insurers Stray From the Conservative Line on Climate Change - NYTimes.com
Insurers Stray From the Conservative Line on Climate Change - NYTimes.com
"And the industry expects the situation will get worse. “Numerous studies assume a rise in summer drought periods in North America in the future and an increasing probability of severe cyclones relatively far north along the U.S. East Coast in the long term,” said Peter Höppe, who heads Geo Risks Research at the reinsurance giant Munich Re. “The rise in sea level caused by climate change will further increase the risk of storm surge.” Most insurers, including the reinsurance companies that bear much of the ultimate risk in the industry, have little time for the arguments heard in some right-wing circles that climate change isn’t happening, and are quite comfortable with the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is the main culprit of global warming."
"And the industry expects the situation will get worse. “Numerous studies assume a rise in summer drought periods in North America in the future and an increasing probability of severe cyclones relatively far north along the U.S. East Coast in the long term,” said Peter Höppe, who heads Geo Risks Research at the reinsurance giant Munich Re. “The rise in sea level caused by climate change will further increase the risk of storm surge.” Most insurers, including the reinsurance companies that bear much of the ultimate risk in the industry, have little time for the arguments heard in some right-wing circles that climate change isn’t happening, and are quite comfortable with the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is the main culprit of global warming."
Average US Retirement Age Is 61--And Rising - Yahoo! Finance
Average US Retirement Age Is 61--And Rising
"The average non-retired American now plans to retire at 66, up from 60 in 1995, according to the Gallup survey....The trend to retire older started in the 1990s...."
"The average non-retired American now plans to retire at 66, up from 60 in 1995, according to the Gallup survey....The trend to retire older started in the 1990s...."
Monday, May 13, 2013
Markets Erode Morals, Let People Do Horrible Things: Study
Markets Erode Morals, Let People Do Horrible Things: Study
"Formerly public institutions have been privatized, including the warehousing of human beings in prisons, as The Huffington Post's Chris Kirkham has documented extensively. People get the names of casinos and porn sites tattooed on their faces. Pension plans have been replaced by market-based 401(k)s, which gradually eat away at retirement security. Some would like to replace social programs like Medicare and Social Security with market-based accounts. Satisfying the god of the free market has led to widening income inequality, with soaring stocks and stagnant wages."
"Formerly public institutions have been privatized, including the warehousing of human beings in prisons, as The Huffington Post's Chris Kirkham has documented extensively. People get the names of casinos and porn sites tattooed on their faces. Pension plans have been replaced by market-based 401(k)s, which gradually eat away at retirement security. Some would like to replace social programs like Medicare and Social Security with market-based accounts. Satisfying the god of the free market has led to widening income inequality, with soaring stocks and stagnant wages."
Friday, May 10, 2013
Gen. EfraÃn RÃos Montt of Guatemala Guilty of Genocide - NYTimes.com
Gen. EfraÃn RÃos Montt of Guatemala Guilty of Genocide - NYTimes.com
"The American military had a close relationship with the Guatemalan military well into the 1970s before President Jimmy Carter’s administration cut off aid. When General RÃos Montt seized power in March 1982, President Ronald Reagan’s administration cultivated him as a reliable Central American ally in its battle against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and Salvadoran guerrillas."
...
"By the end of 1982, however, the State Department had gathered evidence that the army was behind the massacres.
"The American military had a close relationship with the Guatemalan military well into the 1970s before President Jimmy Carter’s administration cut off aid. When General RÃos Montt seized power in March 1982, President Ronald Reagan’s administration cultivated him as a reliable Central American ally in its battle against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and Salvadoran guerrillas."
...
"By the end of 1982, however, the State Department had gathered evidence that the army was behind the massacres.
But even then, the administration insisted that General RÃos Montt was working to reduce the violence. After a regional meeting, President Reagan described him as “a man of great personal integrity and commitment.”
Thursday, May 09, 2013
New Database Reveals Adjacent Hospitals Charging $200,000 Difference For Same Procedure | TechCrunch
New Database Reveals Adjacent Hospitals Charging $200,000 Difference For Same Procedure |
"Average inpatient charges for services a hospital may provide in connection with a joint replacement range from a low of $5,300 at a hospital in Ada, Oklahoma, to a high of $223,000 at a hospital in Monterey Park, California. Even within the same geographic area,”
"Average inpatient charges for services a hospital may provide in connection with a joint replacement range from a low of $5,300 at a hospital in Ada, Oklahoma, to a high of $223,000 at a hospital in Monterey Park, California. Even within the same geographic area,”
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Stephen Hawking joins academic boycott of Israel | World news | The Guardian
Stephen Hawking joins academic boycott of Israel
"Hawking's decision marks another victory in the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions targeting Israeli academic institutions."
"Hawking's decision marks another victory in the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions targeting Israeli academic institutions."
Enron's Skilling May Be Free As Soon As 2017 Or 11 Years Early | Zero Hedge
Enron's Skilling May Be Free As Soon As 2017 Or 11 Years Early | Zero Hedge
"ENRON'S SKILLING HELPED MASTERMIND MASSIVE FRAUD AT ENERGY FIRM
"ENRON'S SKILLING HELPED MASTERMIND MASSIVE FRAUD AT ENERGY FIRM
Indeed he did: which is why it is surprising he served any prison time at all.
So in brief: justice for all, except for those who have $40 million set aside for "restitution payments."
The Idled Young Americans - NYTimes.com
The Idled Young Americans - NYTimes.com
"For all of Europe’s troubles — a left-right combination of sclerotic labor markets and austerity — the United States has quietly surpassed much of Europe in the percentage of young adults without jobs. It’s not just Europe, either. Over the last 12 years, the United States has gone from having the highest share of employed 25- to 34-year-olds among large, wealthy economies to having among the lowest."
"For all of Europe’s troubles — a left-right combination of sclerotic labor markets and austerity — the United States has quietly surpassed much of Europe in the percentage of young adults without jobs. It’s not just Europe, either. Over the last 12 years, the United States has gone from having the highest share of employed 25- to 34-year-olds among large, wealthy economies to having among the lowest."
Sunday, May 05, 2013
The Rich Have Gained $5.6 Trillion in the 'Recovery,' While the Rest of Us Have Lost $669 Billion | Alternet
The Rich Have Gained $5.6 Trillion in the 'Recovery,' While the Rest of Us Have Lost $669 Billion | Alternet
"From 2009 to 2011, the richest 8 million families (the top 7%) on average saw their wealth rise from $1.7 million to $2.5 million each. Meanwhile the rest of us -- the bottom 93% (that's 111 million families) -- suffered on average a decline of $6,000 each.
Do the math and you'll discover that the top 7% gained a whopping $5.6 trillion in net worth (assets minus liabilities) while the rest of lost $669 billion. Their wealth went up by 28% while ours went down by 4 percent."
"From 2009 to 2011, the richest 8 million families (the top 7%) on average saw their wealth rise from $1.7 million to $2.5 million each. Meanwhile the rest of us -- the bottom 93% (that's 111 million families) -- suffered on average a decline of $6,000 each.
Do the math and you'll discover that the top 7% gained a whopping $5.6 trillion in net worth (assets minus liabilities) while the rest of lost $669 billion. Their wealth went up by 28% while ours went down by 4 percent."
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
How Did the World's Rich Get That Way? Luck - Businessweek
How Did the World's Rich Get That Way? Luck - Businessweek
"Take the importance of family. In the U.S., about 50 percent of variation of wealth and about 35 percent to 43 percent of variation in income of children can be explained by the relative wealth and income (PDF) of their parents, suggest economists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis. One reason for this tight relationship is that parents who were educated are far more likely to educate their own kids. According to Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Brookings Institution, the median wage of the average American male—employed or not—has declined by $13,000 since 1969. Most of that drop is because of plummeting earnings among those with a high school diploma or less, something that’s highly dependent on your parents. Evan Soltas examined the General Social Survey data and concluded that if your father didn’t graduate high school, you are eight times more likely not to graduate high school yourself—a 22.2 percent chance, as compared to a 2.9 percent chance among kids whose fathers did graduate.
"Take the importance of family. In the U.S., about 50 percent of variation of wealth and about 35 percent to 43 percent of variation in income of children can be explained by the relative wealth and income (PDF) of their parents, suggest economists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis. One reason for this tight relationship is that parents who were educated are far more likely to educate their own kids. According to Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Brookings Institution, the median wage of the average American male—employed or not—has declined by $13,000 since 1969. Most of that drop is because of plummeting earnings among those with a high school diploma or less, something that’s highly dependent on your parents. Evan Soltas examined the General Social Survey data and concluded that if your father didn’t graduate high school, you are eight times more likely not to graduate high school yourself—a 22.2 percent chance, as compared to a 2.9 percent chance among kids whose fathers did graduate.
The advantages of a privileged background don’t stop at graduation. Tufts economist Linda Loury suggests that half of all jobs in the U.S. are found through family, friends, or acquaintances. Canadian economists Miles Corak and Patrizio Piraino look at how often men end up working at the same company where their father worked, finding that as many as 40 percent have done that at some point. The proportion rises to 70 percent among the top 1 percent in income distribution. This helps to explain why the relationship between the earnings of parent and child is even higher at the top end than it is across the population at large, according to Corak. One-third of successions between chief executive officers in publicly listed companies in the U.S. involves an incoming CEO related by blood or marriage to the old CEO, the founder, or a large shareholder."
Calculated Risk: Real House Prices, Price-to-Rent Ratio, City Prices relative to 2000
Calculated Risk: Real House Prices, Price-to-Rent Ratio, City Prices relative to 2000
"In nominal terms, the Case-Shiller National index (SA) is back to Q2 2003 levels (and also back up to Q3 2010), and the Case-Shiller Composite 20 Index (SA) is back to November 2003 levels, and the CoreLogic index (NSA) is back to January 2004. "
"In real terms, the National index is back to October 1999 levels, the Composite 20 index is back to January 2001, and the CoreLogic index back to February 2001.
In real terms, most of the appreciation in the last decade is gone."
"In nominal terms, the Case-Shiller National index (SA) is back to Q2 2003 levels (and also back up to Q3 2010), and the Case-Shiller Composite 20 Index (SA) is back to November 2003 levels, and the CoreLogic index (NSA) is back to January 2004. "
"In real terms, the National index is back to October 1999 levels, the Composite 20 index is back to January 2001, and the CoreLogic index back to February 2001.
In real terms, most of the appreciation in the last decade is gone."
"On a price-to-rent basis, the Case-Shiller National index is back to Q4 1999 levels, the Composite 20 index is back to January 2001 levels, and the CoreLogic index is back to February 2001.
In real terms - and as a price-to-rent ratio - prices are mostly back to early 2000 levels."
Wealthiest Americans Only Winners in Recovery, Pew Says - Bloomberg
Wealthiest Americans Only Winners in Recovery, Pew Says
"Pew attributed the disparity to gains during that period in the stock and bond markets, benefiting affluent households, while the housing market’s decline hit others harder. The report underscores the nation’s growing income inequality, with the top 13 percent of households recovering their losses from the 18- month recession that ended in June 2009, and the rest of the country continuing to hemorrhage wealth."
"Pew attributed the disparity to gains during that period in the stock and bond markets, benefiting affluent households, while the housing market’s decline hit others harder. The report underscores the nation’s growing income inequality, with the top 13 percent of households recovering their losses from the 18- month recession that ended in June 2009, and the rest of the country continuing to hemorrhage wealth."
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Wall Street betting billions on single-family homes in distressed markets - The Washington Post
Wall Street betting billions on single-family homes in distressed markets - The Washington Post
“There is the possibility that Wall Street and the banks and the affluent 1 percent stand to gain the most from this,” said Jack McCabe, a real estate consultant based in Deerfield Beach, Fla. “Meanwhile, lower-income Americans will lose their opportunity for the American Dream of building wealth through owning a home.”
“There is the possibility that Wall Street and the banks and the affluent 1 percent stand to gain the most from this,” said Jack McCabe, a real estate consultant based in Deerfield Beach, Fla. “Meanwhile, lower-income Americans will lose their opportunity for the American Dream of building wealth through owning a home.”
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
The wealthy keep getting wealthier - Business Insider
The wealthy keep getting wealthier - Business Insider
"The wealthiest 7% (households earning $840,000 or more), on the other hand, had more money to invest in the stock market, which has rebounded at a faster rate. Between 2009 and 2011, the S&P 500 soared by 34% while the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index dropped by 5%."
"The wealthiest 7% (households earning $840,000 or more), on the other hand, had more money to invest in the stock market, which has rebounded at a faster rate. Between 2009 and 2011, the S&P 500 soared by 34% while the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index dropped by 5%."
Monday, April 22, 2013
Hewlett-Packard and Its Obstinate Director - NYTimes.com
Hewlett-Packard and Its Obstinate Director - NYTimes.com
"Boards “are like the Hotel California,” Mr. Patterson said. “Directors check in but they never check out. It’s so hard to mount and win a campaign, and even then, they stay. Shareholders need to mobilize for a second round."
"Boards “are like the Hotel California,” Mr. Patterson said. “Directors check in but they never check out. It’s so hard to mount and win a campaign, and even then, they stay. Shareholders need to mobilize for a second round."
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Lawrence Wittner: That's Where the Money Goes
Lawrence Wittner: That's Where the Money Goes
The United States spent more than four times as much on the military as China (the number two big spender) and more than seven times as much as Russia (which ranked third).
The United States spent more than four times as much on the military as China (the number two big spender) and more than seven times as much as Russia (which ranked third).
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Whoops! Turns out debt doesn’t ruin economies - Salon.com
Whoops! Turns out debt doesn’t ruin economies - Salon.com
"The reason we are just now getting critical second looks at Reinhart and Rogoff’s findings, when the paper in question came out in 2010, is that the economists just didn’t release their data. Here’s Dean Baker complaining about that fact in 2010. As he wrote: “Mr. Rogoff and Ms. Reinhart have declined to adhere to standard ethics within the economics profession and have refused to share the data on which they base their conclusion with other researchers.”
This is important — it should in fact be a Big Deal — because Reinhart and Rogoff have been the ultimate authorities in the appeals to authority from everyone advocating austerity in the U.S. and across the world for the last few years. Tim Fernholz excerpts Tom Coburn’s account of the address the two gave to 40 senators, and quotes officials and politicians from Europe and the U.S. and from both sides of the American party divide praising Reinhart and Rogoff’s study.
So, austerity’s canceled, right? Haha, no, sorry.
The problem is that debt moralists used the study to justify a political belief, and they will not shed that belief now that the study has been shown to be flawed. The idea that debt is just innately bad, and indicative of a sort of national deficiency of character, will persist. It’s not based on data, it’s based on facile analogies to kitchen table checkbook balancing and “common sense” about how it is always necessary to “live within your means.” We already have plenty of evidence that austerity doesn’t boost economies, and no one cares. No one will care about this."
"The reason we are just now getting critical second looks at Reinhart and Rogoff’s findings, when the paper in question came out in 2010, is that the economists just didn’t release their data. Here’s Dean Baker complaining about that fact in 2010. As he wrote: “Mr. Rogoff and Ms. Reinhart have declined to adhere to standard ethics within the economics profession and have refused to share the data on which they base their conclusion with other researchers.”
This is important — it should in fact be a Big Deal — because Reinhart and Rogoff have been the ultimate authorities in the appeals to authority from everyone advocating austerity in the U.S. and across the world for the last few years. Tim Fernholz excerpts Tom Coburn’s account of the address the two gave to 40 senators, and quotes officials and politicians from Europe and the U.S. and from both sides of the American party divide praising Reinhart and Rogoff’s study.
So, austerity’s canceled, right? Haha, no, sorry.
The problem is that debt moralists used the study to justify a political belief, and they will not shed that belief now that the study has been shown to be flawed. The idea that debt is just innately bad, and indicative of a sort of national deficiency of character, will persist. It’s not based on data, it’s based on facile analogies to kitchen table checkbook balancing and “common sense” about how it is always necessary to “live within your means.” We already have plenty of evidence that austerity doesn’t boost economies, and no one cares. No one will care about this."
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
A Tax System Stacked Against the 99 Percent - NYTimes.com
A Tax System Stacked Against the 99 Percent - NYTimes.com
"What should shock and outrage us is that as the top 1 percent has grown extremely rich, the effective tax rates they pay have markedly decreased. Our tax system is much less progressive than it was for much of the 20th century. The top marginal income tax rate peaked at 94 percent during World War II and remained at 70 percent through the 1960s and 1970s; it is now 39.6 percent. Tax fairness has gotten much worse in the 30 years since the Reagan “revolution” of the 1980s."
"What should shock and outrage us is that as the top 1 percent has grown extremely rich, the effective tax rates they pay have markedly decreased. Our tax system is much less progressive than it was for much of the 20th century. The top marginal income tax rate peaked at 94 percent during World War II and remained at 70 percent through the 1960s and 1970s; it is now 39.6 percent. Tax fairness has gotten much worse in the 30 years since the Reagan “revolution” of the 1980s."
Goldman, AIG and the government renew their friendship - Reuters
Goldman, AIG and the government renew their friendship | Unstructured Finance
"For those who follow bailout sagas, the idea of a Goldman bankers handling AIG’s bailout repayment and being congratulated by a former government official has a certain degree of irony.
"For those who follow bailout sagas, the idea of a Goldman bankers handling AIG’s bailout repayment and being congratulated by a former government official has a certain degree of irony.
One of the biggest scandals coming out of the financial crisis was a $12.9 billion payment AIG made to Goldman Sachs after its bailout in the fall of 2008. The payout was related to credit default swaps that Goldman had purchased from AIG in the years leading up to the crisis, to protect against potential losses on mortgage securities.
As mortgages went belly up in 2007, Goldman began demanding payments from AIG. The two parties had a drawn-out, heated battle about the amount of money Goldman deserved. But when the government took over AIG’s finances, the insurer paid Goldman and more than a dozen other banks 100 cents on the dollar.
Goldman got special scrutiny because it received more than other banks, and because the country was in the midst of a populist backlash against Wall Street. Within four months, Goldman Sachs had become the “vampire squid” – a moniker that stuck – and dozens of conspiracy theories about Goldman being “Government Sachs” took root."
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