Tag: Interest

  • Our Fragile Infrastructure: Lessons From Hurricane Helene

    Asheville, North Carolina, is known for its historic architecture, vibrant arts scene and as a gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a favorite escape for “climate migrants” moving from California, Arizona, and other climate-challenged vicinities, until a “500 year flood” ravaged the city this fall. Hurricane Helene was a wakeup call not just for stricken […]

  • Economic Conditions and Hollow Victories

    Economic Conditions and Hollow Victories

    Among the very few things to look forward to on Labor Day is Jack Rasmus’s annual report on the state of US labor. Rasmus, an accomplished political-economist, riffs on the famous Frederick Engels book with Labor Day 2024: The Condition of the American Working Class Today. It may come as a surprise to some, but […]

  • Pandering to the Taxpayers

    In every presidential election, office seekers elbow each other to position themselves as favoring tax breaks for the electorate. Kamala Harris raced in quickly with proposals for a tax break for the middle class and a tax deduction of up to $50,000 for new small businesses ─ two debt producing polices. To her credit, the […]

  • Why Does the Government Borrow When It Can Print?

    In the first seven months of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, net interest (payments minus income) on the federal debt reached $514 billion, exceeding spending on both national defense ($498 billion) and Medicare ($465 billion). The interest tab also exceeded all the money spent on veterans, education, and transportation combined. Spending on interest is now the second […]

  • Is There an Answer to Inflation?

    Is There an Answer to Inflation?

    Inflation is a scourge on those cursed with living under the capitalist order. It especially punishes those least able to weather the pain of constantly falling behind rising prices and expanding debt. Inflation harms nearly all working people whose income growth trails the rise in prices, including those with union contracts that bridge periods of […]

  • Three Presidents Who Made Thanksgiving a National Holiday And What They Were Thankful For

    Three U.S. presidents were instrumental in establishing Thanksgiving as a regular national event. On October 3, 1789, George Washington declared the first federal Thanksgiving holiday. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln made it an annual federal holiday. And in 1941, Franklin Roosevelt signed a bill setting the date at the fourth Thursday of every November. All three presidents […]

  • More Banks to Fail? Not in North Dakota

    U.S. banks are again in the crosshairs. Standard and Poor’s has downgraded five new middle-tier banks and put three others on negative outlook. This follows sweeping downgrades earlier in August by Moody’s, which cut credit ratings on 10 banks and placed four of the 15 largest U.S. banks on review for possible downgrade. As with the banks going into […]

  • No Let-Up In U.S. Economic Decline

    No Let-Up In U.S. Economic Decline

    As the mainstream media continues to make irrational and diversionary statements about the economy, facts show and experience confirms that people’s living and working standards continue to steadily decline. The economy continues to move in the wrong direction. Poor economic conditions persist, which is why the vast majority remain pessimistic about the economy and recognize […]

  • The Federal Debt Trap: Issues and Possible Solutions

    “Rather than collecting taxes from the wealthy,” wrote the New York Times Editorial Board in a July 7 opinion piece, “the government is paying the wealthy to borrow their money.” Titled “America Is Living on Borrowed Money,” the editorial observes that over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), annual federal budget […]

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