A lot of people have attacked JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon over the years, including this author. After today’s shareholder votes at JPM, Mark Gongloff is right to describe Dimon as a “cult leader.” Gongloff quotes critics, like Public Citizen’s Bart Naylor who offer pointed and very valid criticism of Dimon and his board. But [...]
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The day may come when the worst nightmare a crooked banker or compromised regulator can have begins with the words, “You have a letter from Senator Warren.” But before we get to that, here’s an experience that may seem familiar: You’re at a party or family get-together – a Sunday barbecue, perhaps – and someone [...]
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President Obama went to Austin, Texas, last week in pursuit of an industrial and employment revival. He wants to launch manufacturing institutes to foster American innovation and job creation. Republicans responded by ridiculing the President, in the same arrogant way that the blooded aristocrats on the British television series “Downton Abbey” scorned a chauffeur who [...]
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The CEO of a big company makes 1795 times what its clerks are making, and the company is now in trouble. Does it matter which company, when so many other companies are in a similar situation? There is a three-year-old law that requires companies to disclose to shareholders the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay, but the [...]
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Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good. Most had forecast growth of at least 3 percent (on an annualized basis) in the first quarter. But we learned this Monday morning (in the Commerce Department’s report) it grew only 2.5 percent. That’s better than the 2 percent growth last year and the slowdown at the [...]
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How much did America's top execs make last year? The scorekeepers don't all agree. But that won't matter if we keep our eyes on the most important figure of all: the pay gap between CEOs and workers.
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Earlier this week I wrote about Executive PayWatch from the AFL-CIO. This site tracks the huge wage gap between CEO pay and the average employee. Something many people don’t know is that the Wall Street reform law was supposed to do this, but years later the regulations still have not been written! The SEC delays [...]
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With all the controversy over the President’s proposed “chained CPI” cuts to Social Security, it’s worth noting the effect the economy is already having on Social Security benefits. We’re seeing a growing divide between the “penthouse economy” and the one the rest of us live in, with implications that last well into our retirement years. [...]
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This week it was announced that President Obama’s next budget will include a benefit cut to Social Security in the form of the “chained CPI,” a recalculation of cost-of-living increases at a lower rate. This move was met with dismay among progressive activists, which meant that the anti-backlash backlash was not far behind. An early [...]
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Years ago I heard an old Irish politician tell a joke, in that brogue only old-time Irish politicians could pull off, about a prisoner who had his tonsils removed one December. The following December the prisoner had his adenoids taken out. A year later he was scheduled to have his appendix removed, but as they [...]
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