On May 7, 2015, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told an assembled crowd of living wage activists and fast food workers that he wanted the state government to “get out of the hamburger business.” Cuomo was referring to the possible… Read More ›
9 to 5
Pieces on labor rights and working conditions that do not make sense elsewhere go here
What’s So Wrong With Teacher Tenure?
Those terrible, no good, very bad tenured teachers have been in the spotlight again. In Vergara v. California, teacher tenure protections have been effectively outlawed in California in the name of education equality. In a far-stretched argument, Silicon Valley millionaire-backed… Read More ›
Why Public Sector Unions Might Sort Of Rescue Labor
Sometimes it’s as though someone writes an article that is trying to troll me specifically, knowing exactly what buttons to push. “Government Is Not the Answer: Why Public Sector Unions Won’t Rescue Labor” by Jake Rosenfeld on Talking Points Memo… Read More ›
MOOCs, Mechanization, and the Modern Professor
Recently, in a course on classical political economy, my students and I discussed mechanization and its effects on employment. Having read Adam Smith’s classic text, The Wealth of Nations, we examined the productivity gains from the division of labor in… Read More ›
Aides Get Sick Too
Every once in a while, very rarely, the U.S. Federal Government does something right, good and sweeping to better improve the working conditions of millions of people. These days, most news I read or economic analysis I trust shows things… Read More ›
Best and Worst Jobs of 2013: I’ve made a huge mistake
CareerCast.com has recently released their analysis of the best and worst jobs of 2013. A stripped-down listing (without all the detail) is also on the Wall Street Journal. In the words of Gob Bluth, I’ve made a huge mistake. With… Read More ›
The New American Precariat
This past weekend the New York Times wrote an article on the Freelancers Union, the new labor movement seeking to address the concerns of the New American Precariat. The precariat is the class of workers who are employed in precarious types… Read More ›
“What Happened to the other $14.75?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren is as Amazing as Always
This video is so impressive, you have to watch it for yourself all the way until the end. If the minimum wage kept up with productivity it would be around $22. So, Senator Elizabeth Warren asks, “What happened to the… Read More ›
Christina Romer Discounts the Benefit of an Increased Minimum Wage
Christina Romer, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors and economic professor at UC Berkeley, wrote a piece in the Sunday New York Times this week arguing that the minimum wage increase, despite it’s public popularity, is ill-advised economic policy…. Read More ›
Today in Ladies’ Labor History
On February 27th, 1937, some salesladies at Woolworth’s in Detroit (at the time one of the largest retailers in the country) followed the lead of their brothers at GM down the street from a successful strike earlier in the month… Read More ›
The Only Way to Get a Job, Take a “Job”
It’s that time of year again, when students start thinking about how they’re going to spend their summer breaks. The word, “internship,” almost always comes up for the ambitious college or grad student, but the word “paid” rarely qualifies it…. Read More ›
The Future of Unions, and Unions of the Future
The New York Times published an article by NPR’s Planet Money co-founder Adam Davidson titled “Workers of the World, Sit Tight” where Davidson examines trends in unionization nationally and internationally, and concludes that, while unions have learned to adapt somewhat… Read More ›
Lady Economist 