Robert Reich

Marketplace October 15, 2003 Tomorrow, Treasury Secretary John Snow gives his semi-annual testimony on international economic and exchange rate policies. That topic may sound a bit dull, but the stakes are huge. Does the United States want a strong dollar or a weak dollar? For years now, the official Washington line was that the dollar […]

Democracy is a wonderful thing, and direct democracy is even better. At least, that was the view of progressive reformers at the turn of the last century who dreamed up new procedures called initiatives, referendums, and recalls — devices designed to make politicians more responsive to the will of the people. The idea was that […]

This week marked the beginning of two high-profile criminal trials, the cases against Dennis Kozlowski, former head of Tyko International, and Frank Quattrone, former head of Credit Suisse First Boston’s vanunted technology investment banking group. More than a year ago, President Bush called for a crackdown on corporate crime.Since then, a few executives have gone […]

Marketplace commentary September 24, 2003 The President is asking Congress for an additional $87 billion in emergency spending for Iraq. But where will the money come from? Next year’s budget is already almost $500 billion in the hole. The simplest and most obvious place to get the money: Postpone next year’s tax cut for the […]

Broadcast September 10, 2003 This week, trade officials from rich and poor nations are meeting in Cancun, Mexico. The toughest issue on the agenda is what to do about farmers. Here’s the problem. Poor nations don’t have much industry but they do have farms. In fact, the corn, wheat, cotton, sugar, rice and dairy products […]

This week, the White House unveiled a new initiative to bring back manufacturing, including a new Assistant Secretary of Commerce for manufacturing and a get-tough trade policy with China. It was bound to happen. It always does. Sooner or later, often in the year before an election, a President vows to bring manufacturing jobs back. […]

USA Today, September 15, 2003 President Bush says he will ask Congress for $87 billion in emergency spending for military and intelligence operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s on topof the $79 billion Congress already has approved to pay for the war and its immediate aftermath. Neither of these figures includes an estimated $50 billionmore […]

This week, America’s 50 million public school kids pour back into our 90,000 public schools. The problem is, many of these schools are confronting the worstbudget crisis in decades. The combination of a lousy economy, state and local budget cuts, and unfunded federal mandates is forcing teacher layoffs and driving up class sizes all across […]

After more than two years of internal debate and intense pressure from industry, the Bush administration is announcing a new rule that will allow thousands of older power plants, oil refineries, and industrial units to make extensive upgrades without having to install new anti-pollution devices. Industry is delighted. Environmentalists are furious. The original Clean Air […]