Learn Crunchian Economics
Chuck Sheketoff
Is Social Security really going bust, and what does that mean? If I hire an immigrant or buy a cheap import, am I hurting a native-born worker? Why does the stock market go up when employment declines? Should I give the homeless guy a buck for Street Roots? What’s a “living wage?” How much can presidents really affect economic outcomes? What does the Federal Reserve Bank really do? And even when the pundits say the economy is doing well, why do I still feel so squeezed? Why do teachers make so little compared with stock traders? Why won’t more education solve most people’s economic problems? What’s a recession and why do they occur?
Whether or not you're among the millions of Americans feeling economically squeezed, you will learn the answers to these questions and more in Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries), the latest book from Jared Bernstein, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
A world-class wonk and humble hero to working people, Bernstein wrote Crunch to demystify economics ("anybody can get this stuff"), make sense of the current economics debate ("I'm tired of Darth Vaders with PhDs"), and get you riled up about restoring economic fairness ("economics has been hijacked by the rich and powerful").
Crunch is a must read for anyone who wants to answer the question "how can we best organize our society to provide the things we want and need?" Bernstein gives readers "three unifying principles" that are helpful for guiding analysis of economic questions. Using a Lake Wobegon-esque "Econ Noir" story about a gumshoed economist, he reconciles the growing economy with falling wages. And scattered throughout the book are his new form of Zen-based poetry - Haiku-nomics - certain to get you thinking. Every chapter ends with a succinct "Crunchpoint."
In the chapter "The World Ain't Flat As All That" he explains "the five myths of globalization" and why the Boss is "more right" than conventional economists when he sings "My Hometown."
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown.
He caps off his explaination of the role of greed in globalization with an April 10, 2057 memo "From the communitarian of labor" that begins
The seed of the destruction of the market economy that redominated until the early 21st century was planted in a 50-year old press release from the electronics retailer Circuit City.
You'll have to buy Crunch to read the rest of the memo.
Can we do something to change course? Watching his child at a birthday party at an ice skating rink he had a brainstorm about how to bring about the change we want. Just as certain skaters get the rest of the rink to change direction, we can change the economic future for working families. Read Crunch to learn how.
Jared was on OPB's Think Out Loud earlier this week talking about class, politics and the economy.
On Monday you can catch him on Thom Hartmann's Air America radio show at 11 a.m., or you can hear him, meet him and get a signed book at 7:00 p.m. at Portland State University's, Smith Memorial Student Center Ballroom.
Jared will be doing a reading and signing on Tuesday, April 29th at 7:30 p.m. at Annie Bloom's Books (7834 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland) and again on Wednesday, April 30th at 7:30 p.m. at Powell's City of Books (1005 W Burnside).
And you can purchase the Crunch at OCPP's Bookshelf at Powells.com.
 |
More Recent Posts | |
Albert Kaufman |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
Kari Chisholm |
Final pre-census estimate: Oregon's getting a sixth congressional seat |
Albert Kaufman |
Polluted by Money - How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America |
Guest Column |
|
Albert Kaufman |
Our Democrat Representatives in Action - What's on your wish list? |
Kari Chisholm |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
connect with blueoregon
Apr 25, '08
Chuck,
You and Blue Oregon readers should absolutely continue to give to Street Roots. Not so much because it is a hand out, but because you are getting something back in return. A Street Roots vendor will then spend that dollar in the community.
Plus, you'll most likely be reading something that will offer insight into the very topic you have proposed. Why people are feeling so squeezed?
Giving that homeless guy a buck goes a long way.
Apr 25, '08
Here's what I know about crunch. I'm old, and my first job in college...I worked full time....paid $2.85 and hour. A bit above minimum wage. Gas was .32 cents a gallon. In my VW bug I could drive a long way on one hour's wages. My cozy apartment that sat right above the lake front in Milwaukee, WI, nice area, was $165 a month. I could eat cheap and fairly well for the week on $15 to $20 worth of groceries. Utilities never ran more than $50 a month. I could spend school needs, on entertainment and clothing. I was young, energetic and saw a future that was bright, despite the fact we were in the ugly years of Viet Nam.
I'd hate to be starting out in ife NOW!
Apr 26, '08
Thanks Chuck for this tip. While I may disagree with you on many things one I have to agree on is that much of what we have been told, or maybe that should be sold, is based on half truths and lies.
May I suggest that also people read Kevin Phillips article in the May edition of Harper's. It is based on his new book that came out about a month ago, the title of which escapes me this morning.
TLG
Apr 26, '08
"And scattered throughout the book are his new form of Zen-based poetry - Haiku-nomics - certain to get you thinking. Every chapter ends with a succinct "Crunchpoint.""
Wow, fascianting - Any scintilla of facts at all in this book? Or are you endorsing this guy because he is weird?
BTW - Mssrs Novick and Obama know Social Security is going bust, thats why they want to raise the limit.
Apr 26, '08
Chuck Sheketoff: "how can we best organize our society to provide the things we want and need?" I get very nervous when I hear “re organize society” since previous attempts seem to have gotten millions of people killed. Hitler. Stalin. Pol Pot. Castro. Mao.
Has this ever been done without killing millions?
Did you happen to notice that it takes government to kill on a really big scale? Corporate offences are a drop in the buck by comparison.
How about it Chuck, how many people will die in your grandiose reorganization scheme?
Thanks billy
Apr 26, '08
What "grandiose reorganization scheme", bill?
Any effective organization must engage in continuous improvement or it will wither and die; this is well known even in the stodgiest business circles. The question is not whether or not to reorganize, it's how. Whose interests will be enhanced, at whose cost? How fast or slow? How shallow or deep?
The job of private organizations is to pursue the success of their own limited missions. One job of government is to set the limits and incentives so that the private organizations can function effectively while at the same time promoting the general welfare. Adam Smith's "invisible hand" is partly right, but only to the extent that corporate power isn't allowed to run amok.
We'll never build a perfect system; today's answer might cause tomorrow's problem. The best we can do is continue to be vigilant, try to see clearly, analyze accurately, and respond appropriately. The work of Messrs. Sheketoff and Bernstein offers us opportunities to gain new information to help us do those things, just as there may be nuggets from people like Jonah Goldberg and Milton Friedman. The answers are never simple.
Apr 27, '08
"What "grandiose reorganization scheme", bill?"
The ones I mentioned: Stalin----- Communism Hitler----- National Socialism Mao-------- Great Leap Forward Castro----- Socialism
Then there are biofuels that are already causing food riots and probably has already killed a number of people.
If you are capable of looking forward, just think how many will die as Al Gore’s zombies start rolling back our economy to 1900 levels.