The odds that Republican House Speaker John Boehner will allow a vote on raising the minimum wage remain as low as ever, but some large retailers are already raising the wage on their own initiative. On Wednesday, clothing chain Gap Inc. announced it would be raising its base wage from $9 to $10 per hour next year, directly benefiting as much as 72% of its hourly workforce.
"No one who works full-time should have to raise their children in poverty," Senator Barbara Boxer said. She was talking about raising the minimum wage during aspeech to the Commonwealth Club of California. In addition to citing the moral reason the federal minimum wage deserves a second look, she also made an economic argument. "When working people have a little more in their paychecks, they spend a little more in their communities. So that's what we're trying to do," she added.
Economist Kenneth Boulding famously said, “Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.” But it's not just economists who believe that anymore. Such ideas are still widely accepted by thought leaders, journalists, and politicians who, together, form a strong consensus that the U.S. recovery should be bolstered by natural gas exploration and production.
I grew up just outside Detroit and have felt an ache in my heart for this bleeding city for so many years now. It's long been one of the country's designated loser cities, beginning in the 1960s, when change hit it hard. The phrase at the time was "urban blight," a social cancer with unexamined causes that, in the ensuing years, has gotten progressively worse.
For decades, rapid economic growth has been the norm for developed countries. An educated workforce, a large population boom, major technological advances, and abundant fossil fuels were the key components of growth, generating substantial and broadly distributed increases in standards of living in many countries. We have grown so used to such growth that we inevitably view it as a panacea for a host of economic ills, whether it's a deep recession or income inequality.
We now understand, however, that the postwar growth paradigm is not environmentally sustainable.
And, says Anastasia Christman of the National Employment Law Project, "his focus on putting young people to work is critical for communities of color." The plan contains funding for summer job and youth work programs.
In their new book, "Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone," Paul Osterman and Beth Shulman argue that the United States needs to worry about not just creating millions more jobs but also ensuring that the jobs are good ones.
Saira Malik, Nuveen CIO, Jason Furman, professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and former CEA chair, Tyler Goodspeed, Cato Institute adjunct scholar and former acting CEA chairman, and Angela Hanks, chief of programs at Demos, join CNBC's 'Squawk Box' to react to September's key jobs report.
"Supporting year-round civic engagement provides an entry point for communities to begin to engage more intentionally with the political system at the local, state, and federal levels."
Chief of Programs at Demos, Angela Hanks on Black employment in this jobs report, wage growth, and the Fed rate hike - what damage that could do to the economy.
Dēmos strongly supports updating federal regulations to restore and extend overtime protections. However, we urge the Department to finalize a stronger rule than the one proposed.
The resumption of student loan payments after a three-year break, is likely to deliver a blow to American economic growth, according to economists, in a move that could harm many beyond borrowers alone.
Demos President Taifa Smith Butler joins Colin to discuss Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, the Biden administration's economic agenda, and extremist attacks on education.
Demos President Taifa Smith Butler joins Colin to discuss Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, the Biden administration's economic agenda, and extremist attacks on education.