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Here's one explanation for a yo-yoing stock market that leaves millions of 401(k) holders biting their nails on a regular basis: The cost for an investor to buy and then sell a stock has fallen by half in the past decade, to 3.5 cents, as the New York Times notes today. With costs this low, old
Blog
David Callahan
When I was a student, my English-major friends warned me that economists were people who didn’t have enough personality to become accountants. It seemed like a terrible accusation at the time. Today, I worry less about the personality than the efficacy of both professions.
In the media
Nancy Folbre
Cynics on the left and anti-government ideologues on the right often pound on legislators and bureaucrats for being ineffectual, biased and generally useless. But every so often a real hero emerges that refutes the dangerous and widespread belief that government does not work.
Blog
Wallace C. Turbeville
One of the strongest arguments against implementing a cap-and-trade scheme is that it is difficult to structure a program in a way that will meaningfully decrease greenhouse gas emissions due to pushback from entrenched interests. For instance, greenhouse gase emitters want the cap on gas emissions
Blog
J. Mijin Cha
One of the most shocking aspects of the foreclosure mess has been the rogue behavior of mortgage servicers. In case you're new to this sorry story, mortgage servicers are the middlemen who handle, well, the servicing of mortgages once money has been lent to a homeowner by a bank. In effect, banks
Blog
David Callahan
A group responsible for development of the Willets Point space next to Citi Field said Walmart wouldn’t be a part of its conception. Late last week, the Daily News reported that Walmart quietly lobbied city officials to include them in the development of the area near Citi Field that currently
In the media
Stephon Johnson

14 Big Ideas to Build a Strong & Diverse Middle Class

Policy Briefs
David Callahan
Tamara Draut
American workers continue to give more and get less in our tepid recovery. The Labor Department released its second quarter productivity report yesterday showing workers contributing more hours and effort, even as their wages have stagnated and overall employment (and underemployment) stalled. The
Blog
Joseph Hines
Think of technology replacing workers and what comes to mind are low-skilled workers who are bumped aside by relatively simple machines: Subway clerks replaced by Metrocard machines, toll workers rendered obsolete by E-Zpass, banker tellers replaced by ATMs, assembly line workers replaced by robots
Blog
David Callahan
At the beginning of July, we noted that even though just a few days had passed in the month, thousands of heat records had been matched or surpassed.
Blog
J. Mijin Cha