Simple Doesn't Mean Stupid. Thinking That It

These Days, However, The Main Problem Comes From The Right - From Conservatives Who, Unlike Most Economists, Really Do Think That The Free Market Is Always Right - To Such An Extent That They Refuse To Believe Even The Most Overwhelming Scientific Evidence If It Seems To Suggest A Justification For Government Action.

I Think If You're A Liberal, You Believe That We All Are, At Least To Some Extent, Our Brothers' Keepers, You Really Believe That We Have A Sumptuary Responsibility To Make Sure That Life Is Decent For Everybody In America, That You Believe That Society Out To Be Broadly Shared, And You Believe That You Can't Have A Real Democracy Unless You Have A Little Bit, At Least, Of Economic Democracy.

Bad Ideas Flourish Because They Are In The Interest Of Powerful Groups.

In Short, What The Living Wage Is Really About Is Not Living Standards, Or Even Economics, But Morality. Its Advocates Are Basically Opposed To The Idea That Wages Are A Market Price-determined By Supply And Demand, The Same As The Price Of Apples Or Coal. And It Is For That Reason, Rather Than The Practical Details, That The Broader Political Movement Of Which The Demand For A Living Wage Is The Leading Edge Is Ultimately Doomed To Failure: For The Amorality Of The Market Economy Is Part Of Its Essence, And Cannot Be Legislated Away.

Every Once In A While I Feel Despair Over The Fate Of The Planet. If You’ve Been Following Climate Science, You Know What I Mean: The Sense That We’re Hurtling Toward Catastrophe But Nobody Wants To Hear About It Or Do Anything To Avert It.