Rethinking the Economy

Stumbling towards a new model for creating growth, opportunity, and justice

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Entries Tagged as 'Good Jobs'

Chief Oil Economist: Oil Taxes Can Be Job-Creating, Not Job-Killing

August 18th, 2010 · No Comments

This is what happens when you don’t read those pesky messaging memos. From Center for American Progress’ Wonk Room:
In his interview with the Wonk Room, [American Petroleum Institute Chief Economist] Felmy recognized that the [Center for American Progress] report concluded that you would get four times as many clean energy jobs as oil jobs [...]

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Tags: Good Jobs · Green Economy

Intel’s Andy Grove: Putting Jobs Back Inside

August 2nd, 2010 · Comments Off

A few weeks ago, BusinessWeek ran a piece by Intel founder Andy Grove about how to create more jobs in the US. I held off reading it; I wasn’t interested in another diatribe about how we need to cut taxes on big business, create more “labor flexibility” by destroying unions, and general give Corporate [...]

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Tags: Global Economy · Good Jobs

This Is Progress?

July 27th, 2010 · Comments Off

Via Bob Herbert, a Rockefeller Foundation study using a new index for measuring economic insecurity — the percent of Americans who had a net loss of 25% or more of their financial income — shows that for many Americans, life got less secure, not more over the last few decades:
In 1985, at a time [...]

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Tags: Fun with Numbers · Good Jobs

We Live on a Different Planet Than Europe, or What “Conservative” Looks Like in Germany

June 7th, 2010 · Comments Off

I heard an interview with Steve Hill, author of Europe’s Promise, in which he said Germany’s new chancellor Merkel, is in favor of the German policy that pushes companies to reduce the number of hours employees work rather than laying them off. A little Googling and voila, a NYT description of Merkel’s [...]

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Tags: Global Economy · Good Jobs

Sarasota FL and Other Counties Place Their Bets To Fight the Climate Crisis

May 31st, 2010 · Comments Off

The International City/County Management Association just came out with an report, Getting Smart About Climate Change, that’s a nice example of Principle #2, Place Your Bets. It uses case studies to illustrate nine strategies cities and counties are using to combat global warming:
1. Create more sustainable and resilient communities
2. Green the local economy
3. Engage [...]

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Tags: Good Jobs · Government · Green Economy · Smart Growth · Transportation

Rethinking the GDP

May 18th, 2010 · Comments Off

This week’s New York Times Magazine also had fascinating article about efforts to come up with an alternative to the GDP — i.e., how to put a number on how our country is doing. For years, economists and activists have criticized the GDP as a bad way to measure how we’re doing. For example, Katrina [...]

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Tags: Fun with Numbers · Good Jobs

Values- Vs Market-Based: Why Markets Are Supposed to Kick Ass

May 3rd, 2010 · Comments Off

[Part 2 of Values-based vs. Market-based Approaches to the Economy]
Last week, I argued that a values-based framework has two big advantages over a market-based framework in setting the agenda. We’re more likely to debate what really matters to us. And we’re more likely to debate who should get to decide — and in [...]

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Tags: Good Jobs · Green Economy · Innovation · Model

Business Insider Tries to Blow Your Mind About Inequality in the US

April 14th, 2010 · Comments Off

What does Business Insider consider “mind blowing“?
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Cliché, sure, but it’s also more true than at any time since the Gilded Age.
The poor are getting poorer, wages are falling behind inflation, and social mobility is at an all-time low.
If you’re in [...]

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Tags: Good Jobs · Poverty

Green Signs of Hope

April 12th, 2010 · Comments Off

If you’re feeling blue about our side’s chances of getting its act together, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and several other environmental justice organizations from around the country just released a report you should check out: Environmental Justice and the Green Economy. The report lays out three principles for building a just, sustainable [...]

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Tags: Good Jobs · Green Economy · Health care · Housing · Race · Smart Growth · Transportation

Topos’ Framework for Talking about the Economy

March 15th, 2010 · Comments Off

A few months ago, I read a smart research brief Topos wrote for Demos called Promoting Broad Prosperity. Topos has done a ton of surveys, focus groups, etc. to figure out how most Americans think about the government’s role in creating a good economy. They’ve come up with a very interesting approach [...]

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Tags: Good Jobs · Language