Economy

While meandering the streets of Paris, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman apparently awakened to the fact that the assignment of claims to wealth through patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property is a really big deal. This is good news for those who have been jumping up and down yelling about this fact for the last 15 years or so.

Earlier in June, the New Jersey Appellate Division created a process the Council on Affordable Housing must follow before the Christie Administration can seize up to $165 million dollars in affordable housing trust funds needed to recover from Hurricane Sandy. Over the past few months, plans to build over 3,000 homes for victims of Sandy — people with special needs and working families — have been in limbo due to the Christie administration's aggressive and unlawful attempt to take this money.

With the House Republican caucus still squabbling over what ransom they should demand for an increase in the debt limit, Speaker John Boehner issued his own threat this weekend: Cuts greater than the essential increase.

Young people in America, and their parents and grandparents, are all contributors to the greatest revolution in technology in the history of the world. Yet as we heap praise and money on tech leader Apple, and generate billions in advertising revenue for Google and Facebook, we're not getting back as much as we're giving.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon vetoed the disastrous GOP tax cut bill HB253. Over a ten year period, the bill would have cut corporate income taxes from 6.25 percent to 3.5 percent, at a price tag of $800 million. The move keeps Missouri from following the potentially calamitous path set by neighboring Kansas — for now.

U.S. worker compensation posted its biggest drop since 1947 during the last quarter. The year 1947 is when the Labor Department began tracking the statistic. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released data today showing a 3.8 percent drop in the first quarter.

"John from California" called in to challenge Sam Seder to a debate on the merit of any and all government regulations. What follows is one of our top Libertarian calls of all time. . .

As Walmart prepares to invade another community — this time in northern Vermont — local businesses are forced with tough decisions on how to compete with the retail giant.

Global companies are not interested in raising living standards in a particular country or improving any nation’s competitiveness. Their singular goal is to maximize returns to their investors. The success of these corporations has inverted the economic need for competition — from the private sector to the public, from benefiting the consumer and worker to their detriment.

A Northern Ireland county in made news this week when it literally created a false front of prosperity for dignitaries in town for the G8 conference. County Fermanagh spent roughly £300,000 ($456,000 at today’s exchange rates) to conceal the shuttered storefronts and empty buildings left behind by economy-killing austerity cuts.