Frankfurter was a Supreme Court justice in the early 20th century. He was not fond of the kinds of decisions judges were making in the so-called Lochner era. In that era, the Supreme Court and lesser courts regularly struck down laws that contravened laissez-faire economic institutions, holding that such laws were unconstitutional. The courts in… Continue reading Felix Frankfurter on delusional judges
Author: Matt Bruenig
Grover Cleveland on the economy in 1888
In his 1888 State of the Union, Cleveland wrote this: Our cities are the abiding places of wealth and luxury; our manufactories yield fortunes never dreamed of by the fathers of the Republic; our business men are madly striving in the race for riches, and immense aggregations of capital outrun the imagination in the magnitude… Continue reading Grover Cleveland on the economy in 1888
Less pay is not arguably higher than more pay
Mike Elk has a piece on the UAW election loss at Volkswagen. In it he says this: Fiorello notes that currently, new non-union assembly line workers at Volkswagen start at $14.50 an hour—which, with cost-of-living differences between Tennessee and the Midwest factored in, is arguably slightly higher than the just-under-$16-an-hour starting pay under the UAW… Continue reading Less pay is not arguably higher than more pay
Poverty isolates
I was struck by this passage from “Poverty Amid Plenty”, a report produced by a 1969 presidential commission: To go to school costs money — books, notebooks, pencils, gym shoes, and ice cream with the other kids. Without these the child begins to be an outcast. To go to church costs money — some Sunday… Continue reading Poverty isolates
Social and cultural capital probably keep poor kids out of media jobs too
Yesterday, I argued that poor kids do not get traditional media jobs because growing up poor puts them so far behind their non-poor peers that they get out-competed for the scarce media jobs. I think the following graph, which tracks likelihood of college attendance at age 19 by parental income, is very telling on this… Continue reading Social and cultural capital probably keep poor kids out of media jobs too