Let's just tweak it again (0.00 / 0)

I'm afraid Robert Reich is far too conservative about the solutions. In fact, most of the general public believes there's nothing wrong with the system itself, but how it is managed.

How comforting.

The dysfunctionality of the system is the system, and the monetary creation of it. We are still borrowing money from private entities that create it out of whole cloth, and send the Emperor out without clothes.

Why is it so hard to see that all we need to do is go back to the People's Bank, who will issue the money according to the productive capacity of the nation, and out of the hands of those who have fleeced us for several centuries...

Why do people believe their nonsense still to this day?

There are thousands and thousands of well documented material throughout the Internet about this topic, and all we know how to do is think about how to make the current system work... when we don't own it, and can't control it?

In the hundreds of years the system has been in force, there are no instances where the public gained the fruits of its labor and creativity. Why keep looking at fixing a system that will never work for the people?

A National Progressive Alliance, is the only viable solution.

http://www.openleft.com/diary/...

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by: boldhawk @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 21:04:38 PM CDT

As far as the book goes (4.00 / 2)

I found it to be surprisingly light on actual analysis.  You can get the entire concept of what Reich is saying in 20 pages and then read his policy proposals in 20 pages and it would be the same as reading the entire book.  But he's generally right.

Oh, and it's just adorable how he tries to pretend that free trade ain't no big deal.  It's all the fault of automation.  Right.

"Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority." -William Jennings Bryan

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by: circlesnshadows @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 21:20:41 PM CDT

More Money (4.00 / 2)

It's good that he talks about getting more money into the hands of people who will spend it.  The simplest way to do that is to increase the minimum wage.  I would like to see the minimum wage go up by at least 50%.  Then we would see some inflation, which we very badly need more of.

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by: Perry Oikos @ Sat Oct 23, 2010 at 08:16:36 AM CDT

Wages are the key (4.00 / 1)

and the minimum wage is important.  But given the low percentage of workers who are at the minimum, it cannot be the only tool (obviously, the percentage effected is higher if you raise it significantly, as you suggest).  The other difficulty with raising it is that Congress would have to act, and the odds of that are low.  States could raise their own minimum wage - the evidence suggests this puts states at a comparative advantage.  If anything, it's the reverse.

Another possibility is working to raise wages more broadly, including through expanding labor rights and by enacting living wages.  There is a great deal that the White House could do on both counts, as could states and localities.  That's important, because no matter what happens in the this election, it is inconceivable that it will be easier to pass legislation designed to improve conditions for wage earners. (This special report from TAP discusses many things the Admin can do without additional legislation).

Politics is the art of the possible, but that means you have to think about changing what is possible, not that you have to accept it in perpetuity.

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by: David Kaib @ Sat Oct 23, 2010 at 09:26:31 AM CDT

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