US income distribution even worse than you thought

A recent study shows just how bad the distribution is.

“It can be argued that households in the upper portion of the income distribution are better positioned, or even favored, to reap the benefits from growth, further widening the income gap between rich and poor,” wrote the author. 

Conversely, the author wrote that even in times of economic prosperity, poorer classes have limited access to resources that would improve their position. For example, while technological advances spur economic growth, they do not benefit all households equally. 

“The data imply that the U.S. economy is not one of mobility and opportunity,” wrote the author. “Richer households are getting richer, the poorer households are staying poor, and those middle-income households continue to move about chasing the elusive American dream.”

Killer Snow Shovels

It's the cold air that makes snow shoveling such a dangerous activity.  I'll need to remember that for next year.

Better Charts

How to Find the Right Chart Type for your Numeric Data:

From Washington State's Gay Marriage Hearing

Cheers to Maureen Walsh.

Gecko glue

Really looking forward to getting some for myself.

A Goldilocks Plan, Growth Then Restraint

This what won't get done.  There are just too many Republican demagogues in Congress to take good, constructive action.

The right strategy is to make growth the priority over the next few years while putting in place a credible, clear strategy for deficit reduction in the years after that. That’s entirely in Congress’s power. Lawmakers could pass a single bill that includes a short-term growth component to extend and expand the payroll tax, invest in public works projects and defuse the fiscal bombs, and a longer-term deficit reduction component, perhaps along the lines of theBowles-Simpson plan, that cuts the deficit by more than $4 trillion beginning in 2014. What markets would hear in that case is a commitment to the best of both worlds: a more robust recovery now, deficit-reduction soon. That’s much more reassuring than the message markets are getting now, which is that current U.S. policies are configured to give us the worst of both worlds, and that Congress is too paralyzed to change course.

Basic Economic Stimulation

Most economists acknowledge that the massive government expenditures of WWII are what led us out of the Great Depression and into a long period of growth.  While much of those expenditures went into expanding industrial capacities for war materiel, a fair share of it must have gone into genuine fertilization of the economic soil.  Things like improved domestic transportation infrastructure and the GI Bill really were helpful in making the post-war expansion possible.

In was perhaps a bit of altruism and moral sense that made the GI Bill possible.  It was the idea that a grateful country owed a debt to its veterans that could be partially paid by providing them an educational opportunity that they would not have had otherwise.  There was no reason to think it was an investment in future economic activity.  It just seemed like a right thing to do.  Serendipitiously, it turned out that stimulating higher education across such a broad spectrum did wonders for the economy.  We had pride in that thing known as "American know-how".  The expansion of higher education is from where that know-how came.

Another stimulative effect was the post-war expansion of access to natural resources around the globe.  Those resources included both energy and material commodities.  The availability of cheap energy contributed to the growing economy and the general improvement in quality of life.

I think that there are at least two key areas in which government stimulation could do good and lasting things for the economy.  One is to take the supply of cheaper energy seriously.  Energy goes into everything we do.  Cheap and abundant energy makes everything else much easier.  The other stimulant activity is to, once-again, take a broad shot at stepping up the educational level of the population.

Argument for Single-Payer

The recent furor over the details of medical coverage provided by religious institutions just provides another reason to have single-payer health care.  Equal protection under the constitution means that government-mandated insurance coverage should apply to all workers, even those employed by religious institutions.  Just because someone sweeps the floors in a church for a wage instead of the floors of a bank doesn't mean they should have to give up constitutional protections.  Religions have a right to invite anyone to adhere to their particular rules of sexual behavior, but by virtue of paying someone a wage they should be required to provide the same minimum level of health care coverage that any other employer is required to provide.  If a church objects to its premiums being used to supply birth control, the onus is on them to persuade their work force by moral argument not to use it.  But a church employee should have the at least the same minimumly-mandated health care choices that a factory worker has.

When churches want to opt out of health care options that other employers are required to provide, it makes a case for getting the employers out of the health care business.  If there were a single-payer system that was supported by a universal tax, the churches wouldn't have to worry about having their name on a check to Planned Parenthood for some birth control.

Put Up or Shut Up on Taxes

Warren Buffet calls the bluff of congressional Republicans.  McConnell challenged him to send in a voluntary contribution to pay the national debt.  Buffet countered with an offer to match whatever congressional millionaires contribute.  For Mitch, he would even go 3-to-1.  From the Republicans?  Crickets....

Fighting Citizens United

With the stroke of a pen, Obama could expose big corporate political contributors.  That would shine a light on corporations that make their money off the taxpayers and try to influence elections.

Stopping E. coli

A low voltage electrical shock can safely kill bacteria in ground beef.  And it would certainly be less controversial and safer to producers than irradiation.

Drinking Antidote

How would it change things if there were a simple substance that inoculates against drunkenness?  Perhaps as an after-party pill?

Romney's Business Experience

It's interesting that Romney's business experience consists, essentially, of borrowing great sums of money to buy out troubled companies and resell parts of them.  Do the Republicans really want this debt-hog in the White House?

Unintended Consequences

A study finds that abortion rates are higher where it's illegal. So that is what all those pro-life folks are unknowingly trying to achieve.  When we outlaw abortions, there will be many more of them.  On the other hand, access to contraception and comprehensive sex education have proven to bring abortion rates down.  Remember. the cause of most abortions is unwanted pregnancies.  And therein lies the solution as well.

Puncturing the Tax Cut Myth

Paul Krugman, once again, points out that low taxes on the rich don't help the economy. Three quarters of the nation's capital gains income goes to the top 1 percent and that income is taxed at 15%. Back in the days when the source of income didn't affect the rate (before W), the economy did just fine. Those who want "fair" taxation should start here.

For completeness, here's the smoke and mirrors response.  Because of the high corporate rate, the contention is that rich people's money get taxed twice.  But corporate profit isn't personal income except when viewed from Wall Street.

Payment Where Payment's Due

The argument against the healthcare mandate is that the government can't force people to participate in a section of commerce against their will.  But since our laws require care for the uninsured, they already participate by making the insured bear the cost.  Either the Supreme Court will acknowledge this or there will be some really tortured reasoning in the majority opinion.

Born on Third Base

Most of those who occupy the top tiers of the income spectrum benefit from the birth lottery.  With the current assault on programs that level the playing field for the lower classes, we can expect America to be less and less a meritocracy and more and more an aristocracy.

Greenpeace Claims about GM Corn

It appears that claims that a pest has increased its destruction because of genetically modified corn don't withstand scrutiny. Every time the green folks jump too quickly to conclusions, they hurt the credibility of a truly valuable cause.

A falling empire

When the military successes of Rome brought in all those slaves it wasn't too long before your lower- and middle-class Roman had no way to earn a living.  Slaves were doing all the work.  To keep the peace, the ruling class had to give away food and create increasingly elaborate forms of entertainment.

In our modern empire, the role of the slaves has been replace by automation and cheap foreign labor.  The results are similar.  Lower- and middle-class citizens are deprived of the means for earning livelihoods.  Our problem today is to find a solution for this that is better than the Roman solution was.

Detroit benefits from bailout

The real winners are the 1,250 new workers Chrysler will hire.  And Republicans thought Obama should have let Chrysler fold.  Wrong, again.