Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin gets totally pranked and reveals a lot. No, it's not about the money. It's about busting the unions and he'll lie if he has to. From Yves Smith, the author of Econned and a blogger extrordinaire at naked capitalism : The Beast’s “David Koch” Speaks to Wisconsin Governor Walker I … Continue reading Prank Phone Call Reveals the Real Wisconsin Governor
Day: February 23, 2011
Public Sector Unions: U.S, Canada Compared
From Stephen Williamson (emphasis mine): One simple way to look at unions comes from Econ 101, where we just apply standard monopoly power arguments. Labor law gives workers the right to effectively act as a monopoly seller of labor. Result? The union drives up wages and extracts rent from the firm. But that argument goes … Continue reading Public Sector Unions: U.S, Canada Compared
Origins of the Public Employee Pension “Crisis”
What's an "unfunded pension liability"? As part of the efforts of conservatives who are desperate to cut government spending (particularly on any kind of employee or social benefit spending), we are being treated to an unending drumbeat of "unfunded pension liabilities" are killing state and local government budgets. Since it's all couched in accountant-type talk … Continue reading Origins of the Public Employee Pension “Crisis”
Observations on Wisconsin
I'm noticing that the media is being somewhat slow to pickup on the real story happening in Wisconsin and not spreading to Indiana and Ohio. It's not about fixing state deficits or finances. It's about busting unions, pure and simple. As such, it's part of an long-term effort that the right wing of American politics … Continue reading Observations on Wisconsin
EconProph 