One of the favored rhetorical approaches of groups which represent business interests is to remark that businesses create jobs. This is often coupled with the claim that laws which prevent certain business practices — paying unlivable wages, polluting the environment, creating unsafe work conditions — destroy jobs, or make it harder for businesses to create… Continue reading What warnings about job-destroying regulations really mean
Ways to think about government distribution policy
With the debt ceiling theatre nearly reaching its climax, remarks about spending cuts, tax increases, ending tax loopholes, and other sorts of deficit reduction approaches are being tossed out daily by politicians and political commentators. In addition to being a bit abstract, the debates surrounding these topics often devolve into a muddled mess. One of… Continue reading Ways to think about government distribution policy
Reconsidering the DREAM Act
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) is a piece of legislation which aims to provide paths to permanent residency for undocumented youth. Organizations like United We Dream and the United States Student Association have come out in support of the legislation, arguing primarily that not providing permanent residency for undocumented… Continue reading Reconsidering the DREAM Act
Enormous productive potential being wasted as unemployment creeps higher
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released their June employment report today, and almost all of the findings recorded in the report were awful. Unemployment is up to 9.2 percent, more than 0.4 percent higher than it was two months ago. This puts the total number of unemployed people — a term which only includes those… Continue reading Enormous productive potential being wasted as unemployment creeps higher
Medicaid study provides support for the program
It almost goes without saying these days that America’s approach to providing health care is totally dysfunctional. The United States spends more money than any other country in the world while simultaneously insuring fewer people than every other industrialized nation. Meanwhile, it delivers poor outcomes, and the World Health Organization famously ranked it 37th in… Continue reading Medicaid study provides support for the program