socialist-economics

Thanks, John.  A much better analysis is at http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/11/jesse_jackson_s_presidential_campaigns_offer_a_road_map_for_democrats_in.html   Keep Hope Alive Demoralized Democrats have a road map for success in Trump's America. It was written by Jesse Jackson. By Jamelle Bouie

Deindustrialisation, Deregulation, and Division: The Case of Shirebrook and Sports Direct https://workingclassstudies.wordpress.com/2016/11/28/deindustrialisation-deregulation-and-division-the-case-of-shirebrook-and-sports-direct/ Deindustrialisation has ravaged areas of the English North and Midlands, areas that are also some of the hardest hit by successive governments' programs of austerity since 2008. A recent study claimed that the hollowing out of industry in these areas and its replacement with low paid, insecure work enabled by a severely deregulated labour market has meant that many people have been redirected out of the labour market and onto incapacity benefits. Those who employed must often work in chronically low-wage jobs with their meagre earnings topped up by state-funded tax credits. This transformation of the labour market has been largely overlooked by press and politicians alike, who instead problematically blame a lack of work ethic and migration affecting work...

On class politics http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2016/11/on-class-politics.html Trump's election victory has led to calls to bring class back into leftist politics. "Class trumps gender, and it's driving American politics"  says  Joan Williams. Sam Dale  attacks  the "toxic failure of identity politics" and says "Liberal elites have no clue about the lives of the working class. They should learn." John Gapper  writes  that the resentment that led to Trump and Brexit "seems to me to originate on the factory floor." And Mark Lilla  writes : The fixation on diversity in our schools and in the press has produced a generation of liberals and progressives narcissistically unaware of conditions outside their self-defined groups, and indifferent to the task of reaching out to Americans in every walk of life. Of course, I applaud this re-assertion of class – which, in generals if not specifics, applies equally to th...

How Many People Just Voted Themselves Out of Health Care? (Updated) (Updated again) (And again) http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/how-many-people-just-voted-themselves-out-of-health-care/  -- via my feedly newsfeed

If the Trump administration wants to do something useful, should progressives still oppose them? http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/if-the-trump-admin-wants-to-do-something-useful-should-progressives/ The question I pose above came out of this piece I posted in  today's WaPo  on confusion in the Trump camp about trade deals and trade deficits: To hear President-elect Trump tell it, ripping up, repealing or renegotiating international trade deals will bring back lost factory jobs and restore the glory days of the American working class. Wilbur Ross, Trump's nominee to run the Commerce Department, plans to work with his new boss to release America  from  "the bondage" of "bad trade agreements." Conversely, to President Obama, the for-now defunct Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement would have boosted America's growth, raised living, environmental and labor standards in the 11 other signatory countries, and blocked China from dominating the global stage. Th...

Yes, the Rust Belt demands an answer. But does anyone know what it is? http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/yes-the-rust-belt-demands-an-answer-but-does-anyone-know-what-it-is/ This WaPo  piece  by James Hohmann makes a strong point that one hears a good deal these days: the Hillary Clinton campaign failed to provide hope that her administration could bring good jobs back to key swing states like Ohio, while the Trump campaign succeeded in hammering that message home. The piece focuses on a foresightful memo written in May by David Betras, a Democrat operative in Ohio, warning that Ms. Clinton was getting beat on the jobs message: "More than two decades after its enactment, NAFTA remains a red flag for area voters who rightly or wrongly blame trade for the devastating job losses that took place at Packard Electric, GM, GE, numerous steel companies, as well as the firms that supplied those major employers," Betras…tried to explain to the Clinton high command. "Thousands of worke...

Why China could Lead the Next Phase of Globalization http://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/24/11/2016/why-china-could-lead-next-phase-globalization f Trump carries out his promises of isolationism and protectionism, China will soon fill the void left by the US on the World stage. Donald Trump is on his way to becoming the 45th president of the United States. Among his promises are a  45% import tax on Chinese products , the cancellation of the  Paris climate agreement  and, as was confirmed today, the end of the  Trans-Pacific Partnership   trade deal. If he doesn't go back on his plans for global trade and international affairs, Trump will give room to other nations to take the lead in shaping globalization. While the US might be taking a step back from the world – a world it helped to create, to a large extent – China in particular can be expected to take on a more prominent role. While the US is currently the world's largest economy, in purchasing-power terms  C hina is ex...

Employment continues its sluggish recovery along racial lines in the third quarter of 2016 http://www.epi.org/publication/employment-continues-its-sluggish-recovery-along-racial-lines-in-the-third-quarter-of-2016/ In September 2016, the national unemployment rate increased to 5.0 percent, a slight uptick from 4.9 percent at the end of the second quarter in June 2016. Over the third quarter, 19 states saw their unemployment rates decline, while 30 states saw unemployment rise. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have unemployment rates below their prerecession levels. State unemployment rates ranged from a low of 2.6 percent in South Dakota to a high of 6.7 percent in Alaska. Consistent with the long-standing trend at the national level, African Americans had the highest unemployment rate at 8.4 percent, followed by Hispanics (5.7 percent), whites (4.9 percent), and Asians (3.9 percent). Read more: State unemployment by race and ethnicity, 2016Q2 State unemployment by race and et...

Exploring the consequences of charter school expansion in U.S. cities http://www.epi.org/publication/exploring-the-consequences-of-charter-school-expansion-in-u-s-cities/ Executive Summary This report highlights patterns of charter school expansion across several large and mid-size U.S. cities since 2000. In this report, the focus is the loss of enrollments and revenues to charter schools in host districts and the response of districts as seen through patterns of overhead expenditures. I begin by identifying those cities and local public school districts that have experienced the largest shifts of students from district-operated to charter schools, and select from among those cities illustrative examples of the effects of charter school expansion on host district finances and enrollments. Effects of charter expansion District schools are surviving but under increased stress In some urban districts, charter schools are serving 20 percent or more of the city or districtwide student popul...