us economy

13 posts

Searching for the Perfect Job

We’re two weeks past Thanksgiving, but I am still puzzling over the dinner conversation. As four 20-something guests talked about hopes and worries, I began to wonder if the pressures they feel reflect a generational terror.

The cast of characters, besides me, was my adorable 23 y/o crypto-nephew and three young women, none of whom I’d met before. You know how it is: crypto-nephew wants to invite his favorite roommate. A couple of days later she asks if we can include one of her friends and then a few days after that, how about another friend at loose ends? Boom! You’ve agreed to feed one person you know and three you don’t.

Despite my apprehensions (who are they? will they throw up on my couch?) they were great. A wonderful time, as the saying goes, had by all—especially by me. Their conversation about ambitions, expectations and fears was as fascinating as it was startling.

They are preparing for, striving towards, in search of nothing less than the perfect job. Continue reading →

It’s Time to Abolish the Bachelor’s Degree

Last week Congress finally passed legislation that prevented the interest rates on federal student loans from doubling to 6.8%. While this move was welcome by college students and their parents, it does little to stem the skyrocketing debt that student loans are creating for Americans. Neither will increasing Pell Grants, increasing funding for state universities, or having a student loan debt strike. Our higher education system problems are structural, and the only way to fix this problem is change the entire structure of higher education. The first thing we need to do is abandon the standard bachelor’s degree. Continue reading →

TV Manufacturing Jobs Coming Back To The States

Michael O’Shaughnessy, president and owner of Element Electronics, recently announced that his company is teaming with Lotus International, a manufacturing company in Canton, Michigan. Element plans to hire 100 workers, and will also open a call center in Michigan to field customer questions.

Last year, the Boston Consulting Group predicted that in the next five years more companies will shift manufacturing work back to the States, or choose to locate new production in the U.S. because of China’s shrinking cost advantage. This is known as re-shoring or on-shoring, a reversal of the offshoring trend which shipped so many jobs to Mexico, China, and other countries where labor costs are much lower than they are in the States. Continue reading →

Financial Blogger to Jamie Dimon – ‘What We Hate are the Predators’

How does an oligarch spend his time prior to the holidays? Buying out entire floors of FAO Schwartz? Flying in a plane full of hookers and coke?

Well, if the oligarch in question is JP Morgan chairman Jamie Dimon, you complain to anyone who listens that the mean folks whose economy you helped crash and homes you foreclosed while pocketing $23M in 2010 are being mean to you.  Continue reading →

Move Your Moola

Despite my obvious conservative leanings, I support the idea of moving your money out of the big banks. My reasons for supporting this has more to do with the fact that Americans need to support their local businesses now more than ever. The ‘too big to fail’ idea has taken this country down a slippery slope.

A non-profit campaign called Move Your Money makes it extremely easy to find a local bank or credit union to put those hard-earned dollars.  Funny enough, by moving your money you will not only be sending a message to the big banks and those in government who support them, but you will actually incur less fees and get better customer service, according to JD Power and Associates.  Who knew that being a capitalist could stick it to the big companies? Continue reading →

The Human Fund

Earlier today, Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and one of Facebook’s earliest partners, as well as a partner in Spotify, tweeted “You guys are really attacking me for being the 1%? I was broke and couch surfing just a few years ago. […] I have a whole new set of problems to deal with now: security, extortion attempts, kidnapping threats, death threats, etc. Life better b4?”

Mr. Parker is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.1 billion. That got me thinking: why can’t we help relieve this nation’s billionaires of the terrible burden of their wealth, while helping ordinary Americans make their dreams come true? Continue reading →