Exactly eight years ago, I trudged through New Hampshire sleet and slush, telling anyone who’d listen that Bill Clinton would do wonders for the American economy. Now, as the nation lurches into a millennial election year, most Americans seem largely content. The economy has faded as an election-year issue. But it shouldn’t havethere are Two […]
Robert Reich
Robert B. Reich, a co-founder of The American Prospect, is a professor of public policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few, one of the books featured in the Prospect’s High School Essay Contest.
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Take a Guess:
The Los Angeles Times Not since World War II have Americans felt so unified. We’re fighting a war against terrorism and we’re fighting to get the economy moving again. And we’re all in this together. Except when it comes to paying the bill. The cost of the war on terrorism since Sept. 11 is estimated […]
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The Real Economic Drag
Broadcast April 12, 2001 The biggest drag on this economy — easily two-thirds of the current slowdown — comes from the huge drop in business investment. I mean, we re talking about Niagara Falls here. The first quarter last year, business spending was rocketing at an annual rate of more than 20 percent over the […]
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An Unemployment Recession?
Broadcast July 5, 2001 In previous slowdowns, unemployment has reached 7, 8, 9 percent. But we’re nowhere near those levels, and we’re not likely to be even if this slowdown slides into a full-fledged recession. So what’s going on? Here’s a hint. In the old days–that is, before 1990–most Americans held steady jobs with steady […]
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The House Stimulus Package Is An Outrage
Broadcast Oct 25, 2001 It’s one thing for the government to give the airline industry $5 billion without strings. More than the market value of the five major airlines put together, and $10 billion in guaranteed loans. The bailout makes almost no economic sense. I mean, even if an airline went bankrupt, the planes and […]
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How Did Spending Become Our Patriotic Duty?
The Washington Post A growing chorus is telling Americans that one of the best ways to demonstrate that the nation won’t be cowed by terrorism is to continue to buy shares of stock and retail goods. Vice President Cheney said he hoped Americans would “stick their thumb in the eye of the terrorists and . […]
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It’s a Hot Economy, but Not for Janitors, Others
The L.A. Times The American economy is so hot that Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, is worried it’s overheating. Dot-com billionaires are blooming like spring crocuses. The average pay of chief executives of major companies rose 18% in 1999 to $12 million. Across the managerial, professional and executive ranks of the United […]
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How Long Can Consumers Keep Spending?
The New York Times CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The old industrial struggle was between companies and workers. The new struggle is between . . . companies and workers. But the battle isn’t what it used to be. Now, it’s over who’s going to spend enough to keep the economy moving forward. The crunch will come if […]
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Underlying Strengths
Broadcast October 19, 2001 The American economy is almost certainly in recession right now, and a lot of people are scared not only about terrorism, but also about their economic futures. The good news is that the economic fundamentals–that is, the underlying structures of the American economy–are very strong. Consider employment. Well, undoubtedly, a lot […]
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A Clear Win for Alan Greenspan
Financial Times The big winner in this week’s bizarre presidential election is Alan Greenspan, the venerable chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board. Mr Greenspan won because the next president – regardless of whether it is George W Bush or Al Gore – will go into office without authority to do much of anything. To […]
