A different look at the state of the economy.

The second half of 2011 and 2012 are defined by growing imbalance producing various political and economic reactions. 2012 will be a political economy year. By this I mean, the political reactions to economic difficulties will be as influential as...

The November BLS Non-farm Payrolls release had several strong and equally many weak points. Most discussion has centered on the large decrease in headline unemployment from 9% to 8.6%. I would suggest different areas of recent reports offer more insight. As the days since release have ticked by,...

For the second time this year we are about to be proudly and publicly failed by our leadership. The super committee, super in name only, is likely to be unable to deliver the results that we need and they were charged to provide. This recalls the fiasco surrounding the raising...

We continue to see an underwhelming pattern of economic recovery. The worst of the initial economic dive is behind us. Political and economic risk clouds -- foreign and domestic -- continue to gather. Strong and sustained growth is proving elusive. The public sector continues to be a significant drag on...

From the Arab Spring through the OECD year of discontent, the web 2.0 generation is using social media to agitate against the status quo. We see parallels between the economic and political changes that are erupting. As the internet has gone social, discontent has gone viral. Clearly, new technologies of...

For the second time in monthly jobs report history we have created no new jobs. The last time we created no jobs in a month was 1945. We saw downward revisions to the June and July 2011 numbers as well; erasing 56,000 previously reported job gains. Local government employment continued...

As Libya joins neighbors in transformative political change, new information and systems of distributing information figure prominently. The National Transitional Council, the rebel governing group, informed the people of Libya and Tripoli via text message that they were capturing the capital.

As British authorities sift through the triggers of the...

Life in the economically beleaguered West is changing fast. We are on the go and our economy is not. New technologies add great new opportunities. Macro headwinds mean more effort to get less far. Millions struggle to get and keep work, assets and stay ahead of responsibilities. We notice the...

The June non-farm payroll numbers are deeply below consensus forecast. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that non-farm payrolls expanded by 18,000 in June. The BLS narrow U-3 unemployment rate is now 9.2%; it was 9.1% after the May report. The BLS broad measure of unemployment, U-6...

May was a very weak month for jobs. Nonfarm payrolls increased by less than 25 percent of the recent rate with 54,000 net new jobs created and an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent. 45 percent of our unemployed, 6.2 million people, have been out of work for over...

We have seen residential housing lose what little steam it had built up. Jobs numbers, due Friday, are likely to show moderation in the pace of new job creation. The debt ceiling continues to loom. Gas and food prices are straining corporate earnings and household budgets. Social media marches forward...

We have often honored election traditions in American politics. This is particularly true of those election cycles that fall every 4 years when The Congress and White House are at stake. Over the last few decades we have developed an unfortunate tradition of ignoring income equality and associated issues. The...

Two years into the official recovery, some things about the great recession are well known. Many other vital facts and contours are only beginning to emerge. A very distressing, on-going feature of the downturn is the disproportional havoc it is wreaking on the young. You have heard the last few...

The big stories for today, tomorrow, the coming months are going to involve public sector services and workers. We are and (and where will be) debating the number of public sector workers, the wages of these people and the cost of their benefits? Likely we will keep on the present...

The pillars of American middle classdom keep tumbling down. Supports have been giving out like trees in an empty forest. Few seem to hear the thud. The quiet crash of supports is lost in a din of partisan bickering, celebrity and sports news. America's sense of self baers less and...

As the holiday season slips into memory the public sector squeeze is on. We are into the shorter, colder days of winter. The American public sector is struggling through a long, cold season. Yes, the economy has made up some of the ground lost in 2008 and 2009. Yes, the...

There is an interesting and obvious fact that has not been mentioned regarding the terrible events in Tucson this past weekend. Arizona is a heavily armed state. The state has very liberal gun laws and a large portion of its pubic has firearms. The argument is usually made that lawful...

Local and state finances receive very little national attention. Across the most recent economic crisis local government finances have taken an epic battering. The situation in California has received some attention, less than it deserves. The terrible toll of past policy and present economic weakness has not been drawn out...

Our national debate on taxes and the national debt is increasingly unhinged. We have reached a point so absurd that America is fast becoming a satire of herself. If you are not a comedian or an entropy fan, this is painful to watch. It is, and will become, more painful...

Over the last few decades, several trends have shaped economic flows and returns. In the developed world, we have seen a historically rare and nearly uninterrupted upward redistribution of income and wealth.

The EU and the US have seen the income shares of their most affluent rise spectacularly. The top...