socialist-economics

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Links for 02-08-17 [feedly]

Links for 02-08-17
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2017/02/links-for-02-08-17.html

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Don’t fix what isn’t broken: Why Betsy DeVos’ radical agenda for U.S. public education makes no sense [feedly]

Don't fix what isn't broken: Why Betsy DeVos' radical agenda for U.S. public education makes no sense
http://www.epi.org/blog/dont-fix-what-isnt-broken-why-betsy-devos-radical-agenda-for-u-s-public-education-makes-no-sense/

As the Senate prepares to vote on the nomination of Betsy DeVos, President Trump's pick for secretary of education, it is critical to confront a key (but not always explicit) assumption. DeVos asserts that "U.S. schools are failing," and many senators assume that to be the case. But is this true? And if so, in what ways? Answering these questions is very important, as strategies to fix failing schools should be very different from those designed to improve schools that are already doing well.

A new analysis of changes in U.S. student performance over the past decade strongly suggests that our nation's schools are not failing. Rather, they have made real progress on two related issues we care deeply about: boosting student achievement and closing race-based achievement gaps. This analysis, by economists Martin Carnoy of Stanford University and EPI's Emma Garcia, uses a reliable and valid gauge—reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly known as "the Nation's Report Card."

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No wage thief should be labor secretary [feedly]

No wage thief should be labor secretary
http://www.epi.org/blog/no-wage-thief-should-be-labor-secretary/

By now, anyone following Andrew Puzder's nomination to be the secretary of labor knows that the restaurant chain he leads has a long history of cheating its workers out of wages they earned. Not just the franchisees that own the bulk of the Carl's Jr. and Hardees restaurants, but CKE itself, the franchisor corporation, has been found guilty of wage theft and compelled to pay back tens of thousands of dollars of wages stolen from workers earning poverty level wages. The U.S. Department of Labor, which he seeks to head, is the agency that busted Puzder's corporation.

Today, the New York Times reports that Puzder violated immigration laws, too, not in his role as CEO of the restaurant chain, but in his private life. For years, Puzder employed a housekeeper who was not authorized to work in the United States, and also failed to pay employment taxes.

Puzder wants to be the chief enforcer of the nation's labor laws, but his history of flouting those laws makes it clear that he is unfit for the job. Puzder's violations of immigration law make him a strange choice to be a cabinet officer in President Donald Trump's administration, given the president's near hysteria about the presence of undocumented immigrant workers in the United States.

-- via my feedly newsfeed

Increased U.S. trade deficit in 2016 illustrates dangers of malign neglect of the dollar [feedly]

Increased U.S. trade deficit in 2016 illustrates dangers of malign neglect of the dollar
http://www.epi.org/blog/increased-u-s-trade-deficit-in-2016-illustrates-dangers-of-malign-neglect-of-the-dollar/

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the annual U.S. trade deficit in goods and services increased slightly from $500.4 billion in 2015 to $502.3 billion in 2016, an increase of $1.9 billion (0.4 percent). This reflects a $14.4 billion (5.5 percent) decline in the services trade surplus and a $12.5 billion (1.6 percent) decrease in the goods trade deficit. However, the small increase in the overall goods and services trade deficit, and its downward trend over the past decade, mask important structural shifts in U.S. trade.

Falling petroleum prices and rising domestic petroleum production and exports have obscured surging imports of nonpetroleum goods (NPGs) —the vast bulk of which are manufactured products—into the United States since 2013. The trade deficit in NPGs, which has the most impact on workers and communities, has increased sharply. The U.S. trade deficit in petroleum goods declined by $22.7 billion (32.8 percent) in 2016, while the trade deficit in NPGs increased by $16.4 billion (2.5 percent), continuing the sharp run-up in the NPG trade deficit since 2013.

The U.S. trade deficit in NPGs is now at an all-time high (shown with dark blue bars in the figure below) while the overall U.S. balance of trade in goods and services (shown with light blue bars) has fallen sharply from a peak of $761.7 billion in 2006 to $502.3 billion in 2016—obscuring the much larger (and more important) trade deficit in NPGs.

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Eastern Panhandle Independent Community (EPIC) Radio:The Are You Crazy Show, Resistance Radio,-- and all-day Health Programming -- Feb 8, 2017

John Case has sent you a link to a blog:

Blog: Eastern Panhandle Independent Community (EPIC) Radio
Post: The Are You Crazy Show, Resistance Radio,-- and all-day Health Programming -- Feb 8, 2017
Link: http://www.enlightenradio.org/2017/02/the-are-you-crazy-show-resistance-radio.html

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Monday, February 6, 2017

Eastern Panhandle Independent Community (EPIC) Radio:RockPile, High on the Mountain, and Best of the Left News and Commentary -- Feb 7, 2017

John Case has sent you a link to a blog:

Blog: Eastern Panhandle Independent Community (EPIC) Radio
Post: RockPile, High on the Mountain, and Best of the Left News and Commentary -- Feb 7, 2017
Link: http://www.enlightenradio.org/2017/02/rockpile-high-on-mountain-and-best-of.html

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EPIC Radio Podcasts:Storytelling with Fanny Crawford — Lost Loves — Feb 6, 2017 Podcast

John Case has sent you a link to a blog:

Blog: EPIC Radio Podcasts
Post: Storytelling with Fanny Crawford — Lost Loves — Feb 6, 2017 Podcast
Link: http://podcasts.enlightenradio.org/2017/02/storytelling-with-fanny-crawford-lost.html

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