Robert Oak's blog

The Only Ones Who Recovered from the Recession are the Top 1%

There is another round of bad news for most Americans.   A study shows the top 1% of America's rich captured 121% of the income gains for the two years after the 2007-2009 recession was declared over.  U.C. Berkeley Economist Emmanuel Saez released his study Striking it Richer:  The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States early this month to much press.   It truly is astounding.   Gone is America's strong middle class where work was rewarded.

Payday Predators Move to the Internet

Payday loans have to be the poster child for exploiting the poor.  People should never get a payday loan.  Selling blood or begging in the streets is a better option.  The Pew Chartable Trust has been on the warpath to expose these exploitive sorts of financial ripoffs which it turns out are quite the profitable business.

Sequestration Suicide

For once he's right.  President Obama came out blasting against the upcoming sequestration as a major threat to the U.S. economy.   He's right.  These draconian cuts, $85 billion for FY 2013, will be enacted starting in March 2013 if Congress doesn't stop it.  The CBO estimates this year's budget costs will cost the United States a full 1.5 percentage points of GDP.

Fired America

There is a complete disconnect in Washington from the quiet desperation of American lives.   While politicians chatter talking points and claim lobbyists' agendas are somehow sane economic and labor policy, a full 23% of Americans have been fired in the last four years. 

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