News Blog

A Revolution in American Foreign Policy: Replacing Greed, Militarism, and Hypocrisy With Solidarity, Diplomacy, and Human Rights – Bernie Sanders/Foreign Affairs

“For many decades, there has been a ‘bipartisan consensus’ on foreign affairs. Tragically, that consensus has almost always been wrong. Whether it has been the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the overthrow of democratic governments throughout the world, or disastrous moves on trade, such as entering the North American Free Trade Agreement and establishing permanent normal trade relations with China, the results have often damaged the United States’ standing in the world, undermined the country’s professed values, and been disastrous for the American working class.

“This pattern continues today. After spending billions of dollars to support the Israeli military, the United States, virtually alone in the world, is defending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing extremist government, which is waging a campaign of total war and destruction against the Palestinian people, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands—including thousands of children—and the starvation of hundreds of thousands more in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, in fear-mongering around the threat posed by China and in the continued growth of the military industrial complex, it’s easy to see that the rhetoric and decisions of leaders in both major parties are frequently guided not by respect for democracy or human rights but militarism, groupthink, and the greed and power of corporate interests. As a result, the United States is increasingly isolated not just from poorer countries in the developing world but from many of its long-standing allies in the industrialized world, as well.”

The IMF, Georgieva and Keynes – Michael Roberts

“She said the major economies are experiencing slowing and low real GDP growth and, according to her, the reason for this is soaring inequality of wealth and income.  ‘We have an obligation to correct what has been most seriously wrong over the last 100 years – the persistence of high economic inequality. IMF research shows that lower income inequality can be associated with higher and more durable growth,‘ she said.

“It’s a new argument.  Until recently, the IMF reckoned faster growth depended on higher productivity, free flows of capital, globalization of international trade and ‘liberalisation’ of markets, including labour markets (meaning weakening labour rights and unions).  Inequality did not come into it. This was the neo-liberal formula for economic growth.  But the experience of the Great Recession on 2008-9 and pandemic slump of 2020 seems to have delivered a sobering lesson to the IMF’s economic hierarchy. Now the world economy is suffering from ‘anemic growth’.“

Why the Apple Antitrust Suit Matters – Matt Stoller/BIG

“To understand the importance of the Apple antitrust suit, it helps to start with the location of Tim Cook on the day of the announcement. On a day where the Federal government announces it wants to fundamentally reorganize your business, most CEOs would be at headquarters, figuring out how to push back, do media, talk to big shareholders or confer with legal. But Apple CEO Tim Cook was doing none of these. He was in Shanghai, where Apple makes most of its phones, trying to both shore up his relationships with the Chinese leadership, and deal with collapsing sales of the iPhone in China.

“Why is Cook in China on such a big day? The answer is that in China, unlike any other market he has to deal with, Apple must actually compete for market share.”

Turns out the commies are running a much more competitive market for phones than the U.S. An example of how “capitalism” does not necessarily result in well-functioning markets. Monopoly facilitates capital formation but saps incentive for investing in new technology and product improvement.

Analysis of CBO’s March 2024 Long-Term Budget Outlook – CRFB

  • Debt Will Surge Past Record Levels as a Share of the Economy, with federal debt held by the public rising from 97 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 to a record 166 percent of GDP by 2054.
  • Deficits Will Grow Rapidly, from an already-high 5.6 percent of GDP in FY 2024 to 8.5 percent of GDP by 2054. The 2054 deficit will be more than twice the 50-year historical average and higher than any time in modern history outside of World War II, the Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Spending Will Grow Much Faster than Revenue, rising from 23.1 percent of GDP in FY 2024 to 24.1 percent by 2034 and to 27.3 percent by 2054. Interest costs will more than double from 3.1 percent of GDP in 2024 to 6.3 percent by 2054, while major health and retirement spending will grow from 10.7 percent of GDP to 14.1 percent. Revenue will also grow but much more modestly – from 17.5 percent of GDP in 2024 to 18.8 percent by 2054.
  • Major Trust Funds Are Approaching Insolvency, with the Highway Trust Fund running out by FY 2028, the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund exhausting its reserves by FY 2033, and the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund reaching insolvency by FY 2035. On a theoretically combined basis, the Social Security retirement and disability insurance trust funds will be insolvent by FY 2034.
  • The Budget Outlook is Better Than Last Year’s but Still Troubling. CBO projects debt will total 163 percent of GDP by FY 2053, which is 18 percentage points of GDP lower than projected in last year’s extended baseline. This improvement is largely driven by higher immigration, stronger projected economic growth, and methodological changes.

Comments submitted to U.S. House Ways & Means Committee hearing on Improving Social Security

Summary:

Besides facing a major long-term funding shortfall, Social Security is putting increased pressure on federal spending and pushing up annual deficits.  Spending down Social Security reserves requires the Treasury to sell bonds.  As the program moves toward debt financing organically, the paper below explores the possibility of adding long-term public debt and assistance from the Federal Reserve Bank as tools to deal with Social Security’s financial shortfall.  Experts differ widely on whether increased debt or general fund financing would be a positive change.  Findings include:

  • A related and deeper problem than how to structure Social Security’s funding is demographic.  The U.S. is not producing enough children or allowing sufficient immigration to build the type of workforce needed to sustain Social Security’s current level of benefits. 
  • Bonds with longer terms than currently issued could help finance Social Security while benefiting private pension plans and insurance products under certain conditions.  But the market for them may be limited.
  • There are several ways Congress could provide liquidity or short-term funding for Social Security if needed.
  • Increased levels of debt financing could affect legal and procedural protections for Social Security beneficiaries now receiving “entitlements” under the budget rules for mandatory spending.
  • Proposals to channel Social Security funds into the stock market would significantly increase the amount of money Congress would have to raise through debt or taxes.  One pot of funds would be needed to deal with the current Social Security shortfall, and another needed for stock purchases to fund the program in the future.
  • The longer policymakers wait to deal with Social Security’s funding problem, the more likely some kind of debt financing may be needed to maintain the program in the future.

Sanders, UAW president press harder for shorter workweek: ‘This is not a radical idea’ – msn/The Hill

“In the op-ed, Sanders and Fain point to the country’s increased worker productivity in the years since the Senate passed a 30-hour workweek in 1933. ‘Today, American workers are more than 400 percent more productive than they were in the 1940s. And yet, despite this fact, millions of our people are working longer hours for lower wages,’ they wrote. ‘In fact, 28.5 million Americans now work over 60 hours a week and more than half of full-time employees work more than 40 hours a week.’ After adjusting for inflation, American workers make almost $50 less a week than they did 50 years ago, they said.”

The senator’s heart is in the right place, but getting a 32-hour work week through Congress is not realistic. Lawmakers representing business interests might counterattack by offering an amendment deeming that “a month, for the purposes of paying workers, shall be equal to six weeks.”

Working with the GOP to raise the minimum wage and allow more low-wage workers to benefit from the child tax credit is a better use of time/effort.