Robert Reich

Marketplace, July 14, 2004 The American economic pie is growing at a solid pace. The odd thing is howthe pie is now sliced between the portion going to profits and the portiongoing to wages. According to the Commerce Department, the wage slice is nowsmaller than it’s been in 38 years, while the slice going to […]

Ten years ago, the Financial Accounting Standards Board proposed that stock options granted to executives and employees be treated just like any other form of compensation and therefore counted as an expense on corporate balance sheets. The proposal was entirely logical. Compensation is compensation. A company gives stock options as a form of payment in […]

Marketplace, July 7, 2004 The Conference Board reports that in June, consumer confidence in the economy reached its highest level in two years. This is an important indicator. When confidence is up, consumers are likely to spend more money, which gives the economy a further boost. But here’s a little-noticed fact: How confident you are […]

Marketplace, June 23, 2004 Two events will affect — hopefully not roil or rock, but certainly influence — global markets by the middle of next week. The first is the transfer of authority in Iraq to the provisional government, scheduled for June 30th. The second is the decision by the Fed’s Open Market Committee, also […]

Marketplace, June 16, 2004 It’s a basic economic principle: You can get a better deal when you buy in bulk. That’s why consumers form buying clubs — to pool their buying power and get better deals from merchants. Fifty of America’s largest employers just announced they’re joining together in a buying club to bargain directly […]

Marketplace, June 9, 2004 President Bush is hosting the 30th annual G-8 summit in the coastal resort town of Sea Island, Georgia, with leaders of the world’s eight largest economic powers which together account for more than two-thirds of the world’s output. With the June 30 deadline looming for turning over greater authority in Iraq […]

Marketplace, May 26, 2004 It’s not a crisis yet. Americans are using half as much oil as a percentage of our total economy as we did in the last oil crunch back in 1980. That’s largely due to a shift in the economy from energy-intensive manufacturing to less energy-demanding services. Adjusted for inflation, gas prices […]

Marketplace, May 19, 2004 The last time the minimum wage was raised was in August of 1996. And, full disclosure, as Labor secretary, I fought like hell for it. Since then, most of that increase has been erased by inflation. Back in 1996, Republicans argued, as they always do, that an increase in the minimum […]

New York Times oped, May 11, 2004 If soaring deficits are such a big problem, why haven’t long-term interestrates also soared? Could it be that John Kerry is wrong when he says thatthe Bush deficits threaten to become a “fiscal cancer that will erode anyrecovery and threaten the prospect of lasting prosperity in our nation” […]