economy

While debates about financial inequality generally focus on individual earnings and wealth, a new study suggests the value of public health insurance should be considered when examining the distribution of income in the United States.

America’s national debt swells more in an hour than most of us will earn in a lifetime. The numbers are frightening. And fear is easy to manipulate. Yet not everyone sees the debt as a national crisis. Some argue that the United States, because it prints the world’s favorite currency – the dollar – and enjoys a solid reputation among investors, is simply taking advantage of its unique position.

Bilingual employment policies might hurt African Americans and white people. A new study suggests the proportion of government employees who were black or white and spoke only English fell after a major California city adopted such a policy.

As baby-boomers have aged, so has the population of the United States. This has consequences, in particular for the nation’s labor force. In the 20 years from 1990 to 2010, the labor force in the United States grew 24.4%, keeping pace with the country’s population growth of 26%.  From 2010 to 2030, however, while the population will climb an additional 17.5%, the labor force is expected to grow only 10.5%.

After the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, two reasons are often cited for bailing out banks. First, it is assumed that bankruptcy greatly reduces the value of a firm’s assets. Second, such an action would have negative effects on the firm’s lenders that would ripple outward.  If a company is sufficiently large, it’s seen as “too big to fail,” and thus must be bailed out.