Todd E. Pierce – How ‘Think Tanks’ Generate Endless War

The New York Times took notice recently of the role that so-called “think tanks” play in corrupting U.S. government policy. Their review of think tanks “identified dozens of examples of scholars conducting research at think tanks while corporations were paying them to help shape government policy.” Unfortunately, and perhaps predictably, while the Times investigation demonstrates well that the U.S. is …

Shahien Nasiripour – The Feds Don’t Care If You Dropped Out of College. They Want Their Money Back

When it comes to collecting on student loans, the U.S. Department of Education treats college dropouts the same as Ivy League graduates: They just want the money back. New data show the perils of that approach. Dropouts who took out loans to finance the degrees they ultimately didn’t obtain often end up worse off for attending college. Unlike their peers who …

Michael Snyder – Painful To Watch: This Is The Weakest U.S. Economic ‘Recovery’ Since 1949

Most of us have never witnessed an economic “recovery” this bad.  As you will see below, the average rate of economic growth since the last recession has been the lowest for any “recovery” in at least 67 years.  And unfortunately, the economy appears to be slowing down even more here in 2016.  On Friday, I talked about how the U.S. economy …

PATRICIA MILLER – WOMEN ARE LEAVING CHURCH, AND THE REASON SEEMS CLEAR

Anew Pew Research Center analysis of General Social Survey data confirms a long-simmering trend in U.S. religious observance: While attendance at religious services has declined for all Americans, it has declined more among women then men. In the early 1970s, 36 percent of women and 26 percent of men reported attending church services weekly, a ten-point gap that reflected the long-standing …

Credit Card Debt Levels Reaching Unsustainable Levels, Says CardHub CEO

Interview with Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub, on their latest study examining the accelerating increase in credit card debt levels, why he thinks this is unsustainable, and may soon “spiral out of control.” Subscribers can access the full broadcast on Thursday by logging in and clicking here. Not a subscriber? Click here. Forgetting Lessons of Great Recession “A lot of consumers have …

Jomo Kwame Sundaram – Some Real Costs of the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Nearly Half a Million Jobs Lost in the US Alone

The Trans-Pacifc Partnership (TPP) Agreement, recently agreed to by twelve Pacifc Rim countries led by the United States,1 promises to ease many restrictions on cross-border transactions and harmonize regulations. Proponents of the agreement have claimed significant economic benefits, citing modest overall net GDP gains, ranging from half of one percent in the United States to 13 percent in Vietnam after fifteen …

The Gary Null Show – 01.13.16

Dr. Jack Rasmus is a professor of political economics at St. Mary’s College and Santa Clara University in California. Prior to teaching, he was an economic analyst for several global corporations and an organizer, negotiator and business representative for several labor unions. At one time he was elected at the National First Vice President of the National Writers Union. In addition to his economic profession, Dr. Rasmus is a playwright and author of fictional works dealing with social struggles, and the owner of Kyklos Productions. He is the author of several books, most recent being “Systemic Fragility in the Global Economy” which explores why mainstream economic analysis repeatedly fails and why we have been incapable of producing a sustainable recovery and economy. Jack also hosts a radio program “Alternative Visions” on the Progressive Radio Network every Friday at 3 pm Eastern time. His website is JackRasmus.com

BOOK: “Systemic Fragility in the Global Economy”

RADIO PROGRAM: “Alternative Visions” on the Progressive Radio Network every Friday at 3 pm Eastern time.

WEBSITE: JackRasmus.com

Financial Sense – Global Markets in 2016: Four Risks to Watch Out For

After an eventful 2015, where we witnessed the first US rate hike in 9 years, crude oil dropping to 6 year lows, a dramatic selloff in Chinese equity markets and an unexpected abandonment of the Swiss Franc-Euro currency cap, we head into 2016 with global markets on tenterhooks. In this article, we analyze the 4 most important risks that global …

Michael Snyder – What Really Happened In 2015, And What Is Coming In 2016…

A lot of people were expecting some really big things to happen in 2015, and most of them did not happen.  But what did happen?  It is my contention that a global financial crisis began during the second half of 2015, and it threatens to greatly accelerate as we enter 2016.  During the last six months of the year that …

Robert Reich – The Economy in 2016: On the Edge of Recession

Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good, but I’ll hazard a guess. I expect the U.S. economy to sputter in 2016. That’s because the economy faces a deep structural problem: not enough demand for all the goods and services it’s capable of producing. American consumers account for almost 70 percent of economic activity, but they won’t have enough purchasing …