Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Tom Friedman were on the PBS News Hour (transcript) last week arguing the problems and virtues of globalization, and the contrasting views of their own books, Dorgan’s Take this Job and Ship It and Friedman’s The World is Flat. The flat world as Friedman sees it is basically due to computers, the internet, and software that enable business to be conducted worldwide. I agree that there is an international class of business, professional and...

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This would be funny if it weren’t so condescending. In their article SAGE Advice: ‘Stagflation’ and the Ad Market, Editor and Publisher’s Leo J. Shapiro, Steve Yahn, and Erik Shapiro advise newspapers on the nuances of advertising during times when consumers are worried about stagflation, as follows: “Consumers who are suffering through the misery of economic hard times–which appear to be settling in with the onset of stagflation–are made more miserable when they are confronted with tempting, seductive advertisements...

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The proposed Simplified Stagflation Index (SFI) is based on two numbers that are released to the public every month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The SFI is calculated as follows: SFI = (AHE-CPI) X 100 where, SFI = Simplified Stagflation Index AHE = Percent change in Average Hourly Earnings* CPI = Percent change in Consumer Price Index* The difference is then multiplied by 100 to produce a number a little easier to visualize. Read more… Sphere: Related...

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Cross posted from Sustainable Middle Class Blog: After travelling for most of the week for work, I’m looking forward to three days at home. If things go real well, I won’t get into a car at all. We can ride bikes to the grocery store and fill up the Burley. There’s fresh tomatoes, broccoli, and watermelon in the garden. From seed, sun, soil and rain to our plates, the most delicious produce of the year. It’s a good time...

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