Original Reporting

Are the new jobs good jobs? Well, we're not sure…
Original Reporting | By Mike Alberti | Employment, Income inequality
As employment begins to pick up, many wonder whether the new jobs being created pay as well as the old ones, a question economists say is vital for understanding the condition of the labor market. But, oddly enough, the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not track the occupational wages of new hires. Without that data, a variety of policy decisions are being made in the dark. More
Wave of the future?
Original Reporting | By James Lardner | Economy, Infrastructure
It hasn’t gotten much national attention, but the early results of local initiatives around the country suggest that broadband, like highways and electrical power, may be one of those forms of infrastructure in which public investment can spark a surge of private investment, creating jobs and boosting wages and opportunity. More
Deserving versus undeserving, part 2
Original Reporting | By Eric Kroh | Government services, Role of government
How different are natural disasters from "man-made" disasters according to some conservative state representatives? More
Layoffs of 4,000 teachers a better choice than minor increase in tax rate for wealthier New Yorkers?
Original Reporting | By Mike Alberti | Education, NYC
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has painted his decision to fire more than 4,000 teachers as the only budgetary course open to him, but it turns out that an increase of less than one-half of one percent on the income tax rate paid by wealthier New Yorkers would raise more revenue than the Mayor's budget saves by firing the teachers. More
The deserving versus the undeserving
Original Reporting | By Eric Kroh | Government services, Role of government
Since the Texas winter wildfire season began in November of last year, some 2.4 million acres have charred. Leading Texas lawmakers now seeking federal aid were among those who have made the most forceful calls for reduced government spending. Faced up-close with the real-world consequences of their budget-cutting ideology, however, it appears that those calls may have applied only insofar as certain of their constituents were not affected. More
Deficit-reduction advocates assess proper limits of bond market power
Original Reporting | By Mike Alberti | Budget deficit, Markets
In a follow up to last week’s article on the tendency of policy-makers to prioritize the interests of investors over the interests of citizens, Remapping Debate reached out to several economists and other experts who are associated with calls for deficit reduction to get their views on whether and to what extent the bond market needs to be “heeded.” And we ask, “If the fears of higher interest rates or a debt crisis are rooted in the prospect that capital will flee from U.S. Treasury bonds, are those fears constraining the policy decisions available to elected officials? And are there ways to mitigate that danger without running the risk of compromising the interests of the public?” More
Causing a furor before it exists
Original Reporting | By James Lardner | Banking, Regulation
Republicans say they’re trying to stop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from doing anything to jeopardize financial safety-and-soundness. Consumer advocates say that’s code language for the fear of something new in the financial world: independent oversight. More
S&P: do what we want and no one gets hurt
Original Reporting | By Mike Alberti | Budget deficit, Markets
In the wake of a recent warning by Standard and Poor’s that the failure to rein in the federal deficit puts U.S. creditworthiness at risk, several economists and social scientists are wondering whether the issue of “how well are we reassuring markets” has completely trumped the issue of “how well are we serving the interests of our citizens.” If so, they ask, can political decision making in the U.S. fairly be characterized as “democratic” at all? More

Pages