The economy is barely moving (1.7 percent growth after almost five years of the dumps is pathetic, and todays jobs report is almost certain to disappoint) for three reasons: (1) the vast middle class is still shrinking -- the median wage continues to drop -- so it lacks enough resources to buy what the economy is capable of producing, (2) congressional regressives continue to get austerity budget cuts that reduce aggregate demand, and (3) Wall Street continues to amass power (the banks are now driving up prices for commodities like aluminum, copper, oil, and gas by cornering these markets). Nothing will fundamentally change until these three problems are addressed. Yet addressing them requires taking on the structure of economic power: Big corporations shedding workers and reducing wages, Wall Street turning the economy into a casino, the very wealthy seceding from the rest of the nation, and all of them bribing and intimidating Congress. The President is not unaware of this, as his speeches over the past week on the widening inequalities that are devastating the nation suggest. But theres a yawning gap between his rhetoric and his ambition. His proposal to reduce corporate taxes in exchange for some infrastructure spending, his apparent support for Larry Summers as Fed chair, and his unwillingness to push a significant minimum-wage hike or say anything about the fast-food worker strikes, suggests that he lacks the confidence to back his words with actions.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 10:58:17 +0000
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