I Grew Up Poor. My Mother Raised

I Started In The Law; And The Study Of Law, When It Precedes The Study Of Economics, Gives You A Set Of Foundation Principles About How Human Beings Interact. Economics Is Very Useful, And I Studied Economics In Graduate School. But Without Understanding The Social And Organizational Context Of Economics, It Becomes A Theory Without Any Groundwork.

When Top Executives Get Huge Pay Hikes At The Same Time As Middle-level And Hourly Workers Lose Their Jobs And Retirement Savings, Or Have To Accept Negligible Pay Raises And Cuts In Health And Pension Benefits, Company Morale Plummets. I Hear It All The Time From Employees: This Company, They Say, Is Being Run Only For The Benefit Of The People At The Top. So Why Should We Put In Extra Effort, Commit Extra Hours, Take On Extra Responsibilities? We'll Do The Minimum, Even Cut Corners. This Is Often The Death Knell Of A Company.

There's A Great Debate Going On, You Know, On Whether We're Moving Toward A System Of Giant Oligopolies Or A System Of Multiples Of Small Businesses. Which Is It? I Think It's Both. In Every Sector Of The Economy, We Have Giant Brands That Are Trustworthy Guides To What's Good, And Then A Vast Number Of Small Groups, Many Of Them Project-based, Sometimes Folding And Re-creating, That Are Offering Products And Services Through Those Giant Global Brands.

One Thing I've Learned From 35 Years In The Classroom Is That People Learn Best When They Are Laughing, When They Are Emotionally Hit, That It's Both The Brain And The Heart.

Median Wages Of Production Workers, Who Comprise 80 Percent Of The Workforce, Haven't Risen In 30 Years, Adjusted For Inflation.