World News Insights
1-3 Minute Gist
Search, personalize, or simply browse. Follow the world around you from gist and context to insights.
Who we are | Our Credo | Ways of using Lyrarc | FAQ | Send Feedback | First Letter From the Editor
Sign up. It's free and easy to use
Create an account
to personalize your feed of articles and topics.
All Topics Article
The Minimum Wage, Employment and Income Distribution
Keywords:
Christina Romer, Prof. of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, was chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisors under U.S. president Obama. Here she discusses the different aspects of the debate on raising the minimum wage. Romer says the negative effects on unemployment are small. The impact on consumer spending is also limited. The anti-poverty effects are real for raising the minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour, says Romer, as over half the families earning a minimum wage make less than $40,000 an hour. President Obama called for raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour in 2013. Studies show 13 million U.S. workers earning less than $9 an hour. Raising the incomes of these families by about $3500 an year under the president's proposal gives workers badly needed income to cope with rising cost of gas, food and other basic necessities. The effects on consumer spending are small, estimated at between $10 to $20 billion. Its main virtue is keeping the principle of fairness and maintaining social cohesion at a time of increaing inequality. Romer says there is competition for workers which makes it possible for workers at the lower end to get a fair wage, but does not account for the effect of high unemployment which takes pressure off raising the minimum wage in the market economy. Another benefit for countries of keeping a fair minimum wage is that other actions can be taken to improve competitiveness for business and manufacturing and reducing the deficit and be seen in a positive context of overall improvement. This is part of the case made in Europe for boosting the mnimum wage as austerity measures are taking place.
Tackling middle class poverty in the U.S.- causes and strategies
03/11/2009
Shrinking incomes, low job growth, growth in temporary jobs, offshoring of jobs, are part of a trend since 1989. This is compounded by acceleration of developments during the last decade of low savings and paltry return on savings, effects on net worth of the financial crisis of 2008 through job losses, lost income, foreclosures, high cost of health care and college tution for children. The combination is creating a new kind of middle class poverty in the U.S. The Obama administration has pushed for college education even as it is becoming less affordable and neglected jobs training. The push to raise the minimum wage helps the poor but does not do as much for the middle class.
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/14/2011
Japan Is a Model Not a Cautionary Tale
New York Times 06/09/2013
OECD report cites rising income inequality - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/06/2011
8 States to Raise Minimum Wage
New York Times 12/23/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 02/10/2010
France's boost of the minimum wage in 2012 under the Hollande administration
06/27/2012
France boosted the minimum wage in June 2012 to increase consumer spending.
Grouped Articles
California Set to Raise State Minimum Wage
Wall Street Journal 09/13/2013
Patchwork of Local Wage Laws Fuels Debate Over Raising Federal Minimum
Wall Street Journal 12/01/2013
Germany's Social Democrats Agree to Coalition Talks With Merkel
Wall Street Journal 10/21/2013
New York Times 12/01/2013
Australia Weighs Whether Its Minimum Wage Is Too High
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2015
France to Lift Minimum Wage in Bid to Rev Up Economy
Wall Street Journal 06/27/2012
The steps towards renegotiating the March 2012 bailout deal for Greece by the coalition governmment of Antonis Samaras
07/01/2011
Participation by the ECB, the IMF and the EC in negotiations with the new Greek government of Antonis Samaras to come up with a revised loan agreement for Greece. New Democracy's Samaras, the new prime minister of Greece in June 2012, has insisted that the terms should include ways in which Greece can return to growth, and the Democratic Left party, the third coalition partner, has insisted that the timetable for the deficit targets needs to be extended and the harshest austerity measures such as cutting the minimum wage be cancelled.
Grouped Articles
Frenemies: Two Greek Rivals Hold Nation's Fate in Balance
Wall Street Journal 07/26/2011
A Warning Light to Alert the I.M.F.
New York Times 09/21/2011
EU Dismisses IMF's Criticism On Greek Bailout
Wall Street Journal 06/07/2013
Policy âTroikaâ for Europe Financial Woes at Odds
New York Times 06/07/2013
New York Times 06/23/2013
Greek Draft Budget Sees Primary Surplus, Return to Growth
Wall Street Journal 10/14/2013
Poverty among white Americans in 2010-2015
03/11/2009
A previous generation could count on good jobs in manufacturing with only a high school education. The last two decades of globalization have hit manufacturing jobs and wages in the U.S. hard and the impact is greatest on people without a college education. Other problems aggravating income and causing poverty is the increase of dropout rates from the labor force of young white American men, the effects of drug use and the lack of stable marraiges. This creates an underclass of whites in America, similiar to the underclass among minorities.
Grouped Articles
Racial Wealth Gap Widened During Recession
New York Times 04/28/2013
Wall Street Journal 09/14/2011
New York Times 06/22/2013
OECD report cites rising income inequality - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/06/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
New York Times 02/10/2010
Roseland on Chicago's South Side, black poverty and Obama
01/18/2009
A sense that the earlier dedication to helping Roseland and places like it that need a special kind of help is missing from the President. Obama's advisers speak of inclusiveness and helping all minorities and the working class, yet while the stimulus helped the economy after the financial crisis, the lack of help to millions of homeowners facing foreclosure worsened the situation for minorities and the struggling middle class.
Grouped Articles
Racial Wealth Gap Widened During Recession
New York Times 04/28/2013
Obama, Empathy and the Midterms
New York Times 09/25/2010
Economic Recovery Yields Few Benefits for the Voters Democrats Rely On
New York Times 05/19/2014
Raised Hands, and the Doubts of a Grand Jury
New York Times 11/29/2014
Unrest Over Race Is Testing Obama’s Legacy
New York Times 12/08/2014
New York Times 04/20/2015
Fragility of social cohesion in the U.S. with unemployment concentrated in the lower middle and working classes.
03/11/2009
Figures from the Center of Labor Market Studies of Northeastern University in Boston showing unemployment of 9% in the $40,000 to $50,000 annual household income group and going up to 31% at the lowest income group. Higher inequality as differences in education between lower income and higher income Americans grows. The problem of the long term unemployed is a serious one.
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/14/2011
Japan Is a Model Not a Cautionary Tale
New York Times 06/09/2013
New York Times 06/22/2013
OECD report cites rising income inequality - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/06/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Obama's second inaugural address and policies for the second term 2013-2016
01/27/2013
An effort to preserve the New Deal programs in the same form and speaking to the progressive coalition of the 30's, 60's and 90's from FDR, Kennedy, and Clinton periods could be described as conservative. Doing this in 2013 in a post boomer era of slower growth presents challenges of a different kind.
Grouped Articles
Onset of Woes Casts Pall Over Obamaâs Policy Aspirations
New York Times 05/15/2013
Obama to Assert Unilateral Agenda
Wall Street Journal 01/27/2014
In State of the Union Address, Obama Vows to Act Alone on the Economy
New York Times 01/28/2014
Hardened, Obama Strikes Tough Tone for Modest Agenda
New York Times 01/28/2014
In Second Term, Obama Is Seen as Using âHidden Handâ Approach
New York Times 07/15/2013
What Clinton and Sanders owe progressives - The Washington Post
Washington Post 04/18/2016
The minimum wage in the U.S. 2010-2015
11/29/2011
Grouped Articles
8 States to Raise Minimum Wage
New York Times 12/23/2011
California Set to Raise State Minimum Wage
Wall Street Journal 09/13/2013
In Washington State, Home of Highest Minimum Wage, a City Aims Higher
New York Times 10/13/2013
Patchwork of Local Wage Laws Fuels Debate Over Raising Federal Minimum
Wall Street Journal 12/01/2013
New York Times 12/01/2013
$15 Wage in Fast Food Stirs Debate on Effects
New York Times 12/04/2013
James Galbraith on the U.S. economy in 2010-2012
01/15/2011
The University of Texas professor on the American middle class, the supercommittee on deficit reduction and the minimum wage.
Grouped Articles
California Set to Raise State Minimum Wage
Wall Street Journal 09/13/2013
Americaâs Sinking Middle Class
New York Times 09/18/2013
New York Times 12/01/2013
Recovery Has Created Far More Low-Wage Jobs Than Better-Paid Ones
New York Times 04/27/2014
Hiring Booms, but Soft Wages Linger
Wall Street Journal 01/10/2015
Tom Keene Talks to James K. Galbraith
BusinessWeek 11/23/2011
Increasing disparities in income in major U.S. urban areas in 2009-2013
01/20/2009
High unemployment and poverty in major urban areas of the US including Washington D.C. This is especially true for those without a college education.
Grouped Articles
New York Times 06/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Peterson and Hanushek: The Vital Link of Education and Prosperity
Wall Street Journal 09/11/2013
Wall Street Journal 10/11/2013
Patchwork of Local Wage Laws Fuels Debate Over Raising Federal Minimum
Wall Street Journal 12/01/2013
Upward Mobility Has Not Declined, Study Says
New York Times 01/23/2014
Poverty and hunger in the USA as unemployment exceeds 10%.
06/06/2009
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 10/11/2013
The Less Educated Take the Worst Hit
Wall Street Journal 06/06/2009
A Better Way to Measure Poverty
Wall Street Journal 10/19/2015
Hunger in U.S. at a 14-Year High
New York Times 11/17/2009
Utility Shutoffs Climb by 5% Despite Doubling of U.S. Aid
Wall Street Journal 12/18/2009
Living on Nothing but Food Stamps
New York Times 01/03/2010
Unsettling Vision of the Future- Poverty and Hunger in America.
11/17/2009
Grouped Articles
A Better Way to Measure Poverty
Wall Street Journal 10/19/2015
Hunger in U.S. at a 14-Year High
New York Times 11/17/2009
Utility Shutoffs Climb by 5% Despite Doubling of U.S. Aid
Wall Street Journal 12/18/2009
Utility Bill Is One More Casualty of Recession
New York Times 12/20/2009
Living on Nothing but Food Stamps
New York Times 01/03/2010
New York Times 02/10/2010
Obama's second inaugural address and liberal vision for the second term as U.S. president 2013-2016
01/21/2013
A sense of urgency in the second inaugural address in 2012, a sense that the vision and purpose that Obama brought to the presidency four years ago is slipping away after years battling the economic crisis and working to bring health insurance to uninsured Americans. Most of the immigration agenda is still untouched, and only faltering progress in other areas. An even broader agenda with climate change, promoting gender equality, with continuing battles over the deficit and a short window of 2 years leaves less time.
Grouped Articles
Onset of Woes Casts Pall Over Obamaâs Policy Aspirations
New York Times 05/15/2013
Obama Puts Legacy at Stake With Clean-Air Act
New York Times 06/25/2013
Obama Backs Piecemeal Immigration Overhaul
Wall Street Journal 11/20/2013
Obama to Assert Unilateral Agenda
Wall Street Journal 01/27/2014
In State of the Union Address, Obama Vows to Act Alone on the Economy
New York Times 01/28/2014
In Second Term, Obama Is Seen as Using âHidden Handâ Approach
New York Times 07/15/2013
The case for increasing the minimum wage (1) Krugman and Romer
03/02/2013
Linked Articles
New York Times 12/01/2013
The Minimum Wage, Employment and Income Distribution
New York Times 03/02/2013
We took a different way to help millions around the world build educated informed mindsets that affects and shapes their lives. For a future that is open, global and digital, with everyone having access to high quality information. We believe in the renewal of America, renewal of Europe, the renewal of India, the rest of Asia, Latin America and Africa. The renewal of our supply chains, health, education, infrastructure, as we rebuild our countries after the pandemic. Literacy and knowledge we believe cannot thrive and grow in a world of web bots, web crawlers, or AI. This requires human curiosity, human learning, and human imagination. We take as inspiration the saying- “One has to be free, and as broad as sky. One has to have a mind that is crystal clear, only then can truth shine in it.” Every contribution whether big or small is precious- in this crisis and ahead.
Support Lyrarc from as small as $1
Terms and Conditions | Copyright Policy | Privacy Policy | Contact Us