Why Americans should take a pay cutWith nearly 20% of US workers currently unemployed, the best way for workers to protect their current struggling employers is to agree to a drop in wages, writes Derek Thompson. Better to pay workers less than having the government pay unemployment benefits
Global Financial Crisis
US fat cats – not workers – should take wage cuts
The GFC bailout in America resulted in big biz fat cats getting paid hefty bonuses at the expense of the rest of the economy. On the subject of economic adjustment their wages need to be cut, not the wages of workers, writes Dean Baker.
lol 
Things I learnt while unemployed
Just because there is a recession, doesn’t mean your resume can’t be filled up with interesting and useful skills. Like “developed and implemented a strategy to hide employment status from potential dates.” Critical for the selection criteria, surely.
VIDEO: Two very different views on the US economy
On Bloomberg TV this week economists David Rosenberg and Jim Paulsen had a feisty debate about the effectiveness of the current US economic recovery. Paulsen says attitudes are far worse than reality while Rosenberg argues a far gloomier outlook.
Warning to the White House: address budget deficit or face disaster
US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has added to an ever-growing list of doomsday predictions about the future of the US economy, arguing that the White House must urgently address budget deficit and in particular public finances, reports Luca Di Leo.
Not-so-lucky: Ireland’s economic woes worsen
Europe’s economic woes are back in the headlines, with Ireland appeaing in the most immediate danger thanks with the mooted €35 billion cost of bailing out Anglo Irish Bank causing Ireland’s budget deficit to increase to an alarming 32% of GDP (ten times the EU limit).
Ireland’s warning for America
The losses inflicted by the vainglorious Irish bankers are staggering. Overnight, the Irish government estimated that the total cost of bailing out the Irish banks had risen to a sickening €45 billion ($AUD 63 billion), writes Karen Maley.
Profile on prize-winning Paul Krugman
Well known NY Times economic columnist Paul Krugman predicted the latest US recession, called for a bigger Wall St bailout and warned that Barack Obama didn’t have the balls to do it. Why does he do what he does?
How inflation could save America
The White House has thrown virtually everything at the American economy to try and revive it. But there is one more option available: injecting it with a big whack of inflation. It isn’t as crazy as it sounds, writes James Surowiecki.
The death of many, many salesmen
Time turned Death of a Salesman protagonist Willy Loman into an eerily prophetic figure. James Ledbetter explains why the diminishing number of American salespeople partly explains the country’s grim economic state.
Kohler: can anything stop US deflation?
The US Fed has dramatically changed its language: it now says inflation is too low. No wonder the Federal Open Market Committee’s hand wringing has become more urgent, more fretful.
What’s a stockbroker?
It seems simple enough: stockbrokers buy and sell things, while advisers give investment advice. But Wall St — and the ensuring recession — really messed up how the public view those two distinct occupations.
How did the GFC change economics?
Looking back post-GFC and the global recession, the study of economics has changed forever. Or has it? A group of experts debate the topic at the Economist.
Banks rewrite GFC history, ignores RBA lifeline
One of the urban myths is that our “strong” banks survived the GFC because of strong regulation.
The wealthy are invincible? That’s a bit rich
Conventional wisdom may suggest that the upper class are more or less impervious to the effects of economic recession, but two American economists argue the opposite is true, with the richest people feeling the effects of economic downturn more than any other income group.
Letter from...: Letter from Greece: life not travelling too well … unless you have olives, sheep and can fish
Tourism is the third biggest export earner for Greece, but this year has been, well almost, a catastrophe, writes Crikey reader Tony Barrell.
How will the world look in 15 years?
The recent GFC came out of the blue for most, so how does a consensus future look like at the moment? Right now most pundits agree were heading for a population explosion and major economic growth in developing countries, writes Mark Thirlwell
Business slow for techies
The technology sector is often associated with a burgeoning industry left largely unscathed by the effects of the GFC. However, new and unexpectedly low hiring trend figures in America suggest it may not be the engine of economic recovery many may have hoped.
Why the US requires one more cash injection
The US economy desperately needs another stimulus package, declares Laura Tyson. Homes and businesses are desperately saving, unemployment benefits are lacking and more infrastructure projects — and jobs — are required.
How to turn savers into spenders
China has a serious economic issue: its citizens prefer to save their pennies rather than splash them about. They are just not reaching “their shopping potential”, says the WSJ.
No longer safe as houses
The US housing market is recovering post-GFC, but property will never be the guaranteed money maker it once was, warns experts.
Obama struggling to sell economic message
As American congress approaches its mid-term elections, Obama is jet-setting across the country defending his handling of the GFC and attempting to sell the government’s economic plan. The public, however, don’t appear to be buying it.
The callous anti-stimulus
campaign
Efforts to criticise the Government’s stimulus packages come from critics who want to permanently enfeeble the public sector.
US financial recovery: viva la revolution!
Smashed by a seemingly endless wave of GFC-related woes, the clock is ticking for the US economy to get back on track. It needs nothing short of a revolution to survive - a revolution that could save billions by ending unnecessary wars, writes Paul Craig Roberts. Viva la revolution!
