Friday, August 02, 2013

2 August - The View

Peruvian AmazonPeruvian Amazon (Photo credit: roaming-the-planet)
English: Cacicus cela (Yellow-rumped Cacique) ...English: Cacicus cela (Yellow-rumped Cacique) with nest, Amazon Rainforest, near Nauta, Peru, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Year of Brazil in France Poster CollageYear of Brazil in France Poster Collage (Photo credit: alexdecarvalho)
Aerial view of the Amazon RainforestAerial view of the Amazon Rainforest (Photo credit: CIFOR)
English: Cacicus cela (Yellow-rumped Cacique),...English: Cacicus cela (Yellow-rumped Cacique), Amazon Rainforest, near Nauta, Peru, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Igazu falls - BrazilIgazu falls - Brazil (Photo credit: @Doug88888)
Mother Jones (magazine)Mother Jones (magazine) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The economy is barely moving (1.7 percent growth after almost five years of the dumps is pathetic, and today's jobs report is almost certain to disappoint) for three reasons: (1) the vast middle class is still shrinking -- the median wage continues to drop -- so it lacks enough resources to buy what the economy is capable of producing, (2) congressional regressives continue to get austerity budget cuts that reduce aggregate demand, and (3) Wall Street continues to amass power (the banks are now driving up prices for commodities like aluminum, copper, oil, and gas by cornering these markets). Nothing will fundamentally change until these three problems are addressed. Yet addressing them requires taking on the structure of economic power: Big corporations shedding workers and reducing wages, Wall Street turning the economy into a casino, the very wealthy seceding from the rest of the nation, and all of them bribing and intimidating Congress.

The President is not unaware of this, as his speeches over the past week on the widening inequalities that are devastating the nation suggest. But there's a yawning gap between his rhetoric and his ambition. His proposal to reduce corporate taxes in exchange for some infrastructure spending, his apparent support for Larry Summers as Fed chair, and his unwillingness to push a significant minimum-wage hike or say anything about the fast-food worker strikes, suggests that he lacks the confidence to back his words with actions.
Golden Horn Bridge, Vladivostok

The Medical System Kills: FDA Approved Drugs Kill Over 100,000 People Annually

Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments: