Street Smart Economics | The scales of justice are weighted against workers According to a recent Gallup poll, 71% of Americans approve of labor unions, the highest approval rating since 1965. And worker organizing has led to unionization of stores at a n ...
20 Dec 2023 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Street Smart Economics | Polluters try to sell you on the idea of buying a solution without seeking actionable change We are running out of time to avoid climate disaster. As signatories to the 2015 Paris Agreement, more than 190 governments have pledged ...
18 Oct 2023 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Street Smart Economics | From a lack of resources to a movement for child labor, growing up in the US is bad and getting worse The state of America’s children is not good. And there is every reason to believe that things will get worse as a result of the ...
12 Jul 2023 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Street Smart Economics | While Democratic and Republican lawmakers squabble over the debt ceiling, they can always agree on one thing: more military funding There is a lot of talk lately about the federal budget, with Democrats and Republicans arguing ove ...
24 May 2023 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Street Smart Economics | The U.S. Social Security system should be improved, not eliminated President Joe Biden has been praised for his State of the Union defense of Social Security. While he correctly called out Republicans for their machinations, it wa ...
23 Mar 2023 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Street Smart Economics | In the US, bosses can fire workers for any or no reason — it doesn’t have to be this way The United States is an at-will employment country. Absent a union contract, a boss can fire a worker for almost any reason — or even no reas ...
8 Feb 2023 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Street Smart Economics | The current unemployment system is punitive, inefficient and ineffective. It also favors businesses over workers. With the Federal Reserve pushing up interest rates, we appear headed for a new recession. Sadly, our unemployment in ...
14 Dec 2022 - Martin Hart-Lan...
STREET SMART ECONOMICS | Business needs and desires are promoted as consistent with American values and enshrined into law President Calvin Coolidge, in a January 1925 speech to newspaper editors, asserted, “the chief business of the American people is bu ...
19 Oct 2022 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Labor laws became more pro-business over time, but it's possible to turn the tide If you follow the news, it must seem like joining a union is a step outside the norms of U.S. law. After all, the media is full of stories about how big companies like ...
10 Aug 2022 - Martin Hart-Lan...
It's been nearly 13 years since the last federal minimum wage increase. A $15 minimum wage would raise the earnings of 32 million workers. President Joe Biden’s March 2022 State of the Union Address included a call for a $15 federal minimum wage. Acc ...
1 Jun 2022 - Martin Hart-Lan...