The Fed’s Main Job Is Jobs, And A Coalition Plans To Keep It On Task
Campaign for America's Future - September 4, 2014, by Isaiah Poole - A lot of eyes will be on the Federal Reserve...
Campaign for America's Future - September 4, 2014, by Isaiah Poole - A lot of eyes will be on the Federal Reserve Friday when the Labor Department releases its August unemployment statistics. But where will the Fed’s eyes be focused? A group of activists are planning the next steps of their effort to keep the Fed focused on the continuing unemployment crisis, and keep the Fed from taking actions that will make things worse for millions still seeking work.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” said Shawn Sebastian of the Center for Popular Democracy, who was part of a group of activists and unemployed people who confronted members of the Fed at last month’s economic summit in Jackson Hole, Wyo. That includes following up on a promise by Fed chair Janet Yellen to meet with the group in Washington and pressing a more detailed plan for how the Fed should proceed to help the Main Street economy grow.
“We are going to be looking at the full range of policy options,” Sebastian said.
The “inflation hawks” were poised to seize the narrative when the members of the Fed attended the Jackson Hole summit. These Fed members, egged on by conservative academics and policymakers, want the Fed to put the brakes on economic growth and turn its attention to fighting inflation, even though there are no signs that inflation is an imminent threat. On the contrary, wages as a percentage of economic output are at their lowest level since the late 1940s (while corporate profits as a share of the economy are at record highs), one sign that there are far more people looking for work than there are jobs for them.
What the hawks did not count on was the Center for Popular Democracy’s ragtag group of 10 unemployed people and activist supporters. They trekked to Jackson Hole to confront Fed members with their stories of struggling to find decent jobs, along with a demand that the Fed not abandon its unfinished role in rebuilding the middle-class economy, in the form of a letter endorsed by more than 70 organizations. Their biggest success, Sebastian said, was a two-hour meeting with Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George, who just before Jackson Hole said in an interview with CNBC that it was time for the Fed to begin thinking about raising interest rates “when you see the economy getting as close as we are to full employment.”
But Sebastian and his group told George that the economy was nowhere near full employment and that the analysis of the inflation hawks was “lacking in relevance, substance and rigor.” One member of the group told of how she went from being an MBA who had risen to a management job over 15 years to being laid off and unable to find work for months, finally settling for a job that paid half as much as the job she lost.
It’s not clear what substantive effect hearing these stories had on George and other inflation hawks on the Fed, Sebastian said. “But I do hope we contributed to her thinking and we also started an engagement” with the Fed, he said. Fed members now know that when they discuss economic policy, “you can’t make decisions without public scrutiny anymore, because we’re paying attention now.”
One of the ideas that the group will refine and attempt to build consensus around would have the Fed invest directly in infrastructure bonds and similar government instruments, in much the same way that it purchased billions in bonds to prop up the financial sector in the years following the 2008 financial crash. The bond-purchasing program, known as quantitative easing, helped boost Wall Street share prices, according to most experts, but had no direct effect on job-creation or on bringing the economic recovery to communities around the country hardest hit by the crash – as the nation has now vividly seen in Ferguson, Mo.
Having the Fed directly buy bonds that would enable federal, state or local governments to fund transportation projects, school construction or other public facilities would put the Fed’s power to work in ways that directly creates jobs in the short run and assets that enhance the nation’s competitiveness and well-being in the long run.
The Fed could also better use its regulatory authority to prod the banks to pour into the economy the close to $2 trillion that is now sitting in its vaults. That hoarded cash could be put to work creating jobs and lifting the wages of working-class people.
Whatever policies take shape during the next phase of the Center for Popular Democracy’s campaign to keep the Fed focused on full employment, Sebastian says that the opening round has been a success in sending the message that “we’re not in an inflation crisis … we are in an unemployment crisis. You can’t ignore an ongoing crisis for the sake of a ghost of inflation that may or may not appear.”
Death Cab For Cutie shares a new, anti-Trump track
Death Cab For Cutie is no fan of Donald Trump. The group has released a new song, “Million Dollar Loan,” inspired by...
Death Cab For Cutie is no fan of Donald Trump. The group has released a new song, “Million Dollar Loan,” inspired by the candidate’s dubious claims of rising from the bottom on his own when he was actually launched into the business world on the back of a million-dollar loan from his father. In a statement, Death Cab frontman Ben Gibbard said that he wrote the song after being “disgusted” by how “flippant” Trump was in his assertions. He goes on to say Trump is “beneath us,” noting that “Donald Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he is unworthy of the honor and responsibility of being President of the United States of America, and in no way, shape, or form represents what this country truly stands for.”
“Million Dollar Loan” is the first song from the “30 Days, 30 Songs” project, launched by the writer Dave Eggers. Imagined as a continuation of his 2012 “90 Days, 90 Reasons” project, “30 Days, 30 Songs” will, as its title suggests, launch a new, anti-Trump song into the world every day until the election. According to a press release, tracks will be a mixture of new material and unheard songs, and this week’s offerings will include original cuts from Aimee Mann, Jim James, Thao Nguyen, Bhi Bhiman, and Daveed Diggs’ group Clipping, as well as a never-before-heard-unless-you-were-there live song from R.E.M.
All of the tracks will be available on the 30 Days, 30 Songs website, as well as on both Spotify and Apple Music. You can also pick up the songs on iTunes, and all proceeds will be donated to the Center For Popular Democracy, a group that is working to ensure universal voter registration for all Americans.
By Marah Eakin
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La Reserva Federal debe ser un reflejo de nuestras comunidades
La Reserva Federal debe ser un reflejo de nuestras comunidades
Ocho años después del inicio de la Gran Recesión, a las comunidades de color todavía les cuesta recuperarse. La tasa de...
Ocho años después del inicio de la Gran Recesión, a las comunidades de color todavía les cuesta recuperarse. La tasa de desempleo de los afroamericanos a nivel nacional es de casi 9%, más del doble que la tasa de 4.3% de los estadounidenses de raza blanca, y entre los latinos es un lamentable 6.1%.
Las comunidades que siguen afectadas por la recesión han notado estas disparidades y han llevado sus reclamos directamente a la Reserva Federal, pues dada la facultad de esta de modificar la tasa de interés, sus medidas influyen enormemente en el desempleo y los salarios. En los últimos dos años, una coalición de líderes comunitarios, sindicatos y trabajadores mal remunerados se han quejado de la política y dirección de la Reserva Federal, que desde hace mucho tiempo opera fuera de la vista del público.
Pero eso está empezando a cambiar a medida que queda cada vez más claro que la recuperación sigue siendo enormemente dispareja. Hoy en día, se critica cada vez más a la Reserva Federal por no hacer lo suficiente para ayudar a las comunidades de color a recuperarse.
Este mes, más de 100 miembros del Congreso enviaron una carta a la Reserva Federal, con la cual se sumaron a las quejas y exigieron más diversidad racial, económica y sexual. Actualmente, en el sistema de la Reserva Federal predominan los hombres blancos y miembros del sector financiero, quienes están más protegidos de los efectos que persisten de la recesión.
Un informe reciente del Center for Popular Democracy señaló que un descomunal 83% de los miembros de la Reserva Federal son blancos, en comparación con 63% de todos los estadounidenses. Ni un solo presidente regional es latino o de raza negra. De hecho, nunca en la historia de la Reserva Federal ha habido un presidente regional afroamericano. Es más, solo 11% de ellos provienen de grupos comunitarios, sindicatos o el entorno académico, y casi 40% provienen del sector financiero.
Esto es un problema. Si casi todos los encargados de dictar la política son banqueros blancos, y no se oyen las voces de las mujeres, minorías y representantes de grupos de trabajadores y consumidores, se desatenderán las necesidades de dichos grupos.
Hillary Clinton, quien se tiene previsto sea la candidata demócrata a la presidencia, se ha unido a las quejas y ha dicho públicamente que si la eligen, se esforzaría por remplazar a los banqueros de los directorios de la Reserva Federal con más miembros latinos y afroamericanos.
Por fin se está cuestionando a una de las instituciones menos trasparentes pero vitalmente importantes del país. Ya que la Reserva Federal se dispone a tomar una decisión sumamente importante en junio con respecto a las tasas de interés, miles en todo el país seguirán exigiendo decisiones que beneficien a todos los estadounidenses, no solo a una porción privilegiada de la población. Ya que los latinos y otras comunidades en desventaja en todo el país siguen sufriendo las consecuencias de la recesión, no se puede dejar que la Reserva Federal siga operando a puerta cerrada.
By Rubén Lucio
Source
Poor People’s Campaign Training Attacked by Pepper Spray
Poor People’s Campaign Training Attacked by Pepper Spray
You can help. Donate so organizers can hire peace monitors to protect their meeting spaces. The Center for Popular...
You can help. Donate so organizers can hire peace monitors to protect their meeting spaces. The Center for Popular Democracy has agreed to raise the money on their behalf all proceeds from this Crowdrise will go to support Alaska Grassroots Alliance.
Read the full article here.
Don't Raise Rates, Protesters Tell St. Louis Fed
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - March 5, 2015, by Jim Gallagher - About a dozen chilly protesters gathered outside the...
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - March 5, 2015, by Jim Gallagher - About a dozen chilly protesters gathered outside the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Thursday to complain that the Fed may soon make it harder to find work.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates later this year, a move intended to prevent inflation in years hence. The protesters complained that higher interest rates can also cut off the jobs recovery.
The Fed represents “the 1 percenters,” said Derek Laney, an organizer with Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment. “They are the big banks, the big corporations, and their mandate is to keep inflation low at all costs.”
People at the bottom of the economic ladder would trade some inflation for jobs, he said.
The protesters complained that the Fed has set a target for inflation at 2 percent — slightly above the current inflation rate — but has no target for reducing unemployment.
Rising rates tend to slow an economic rebound eventually, although there is usually a long lag.
The protest was timed for release of a report by three national advocacy groups, including the Economic Policy Institute, the Center for Popular Democracy and Fed Up: The National Campaign for a Stronger Economy.
The report complained that the boards of the Fed's 12 regional banks, which influence national decisions, are heavy on banking and business executives, but light on representatives of other citizens, such as labor and clergy.
The boards also don't fully reflect their community's racial mix, the report said. For instance, the St. Louis Fed's board is 10 percent black while its multi-state region is 17 percent black, according to the report.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis did not immediately provide a comment.
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DACA activists protest at the Capitol: "We shall not be moved"
DACA activists protest at the Capitol: "We shall not be moved"
Demonstrators gathered on Capitol Hill on Feb. 7 to demand a budget deal that includes an alternative for DACA, an...
Demonstrators gathered on Capitol Hill on Feb. 7 to demand a budget deal that includes an alternative for DACA, an Obama-era program that protects roughly 690,000 undocumented immigrants.
Watch the video here.
I don’t like the GOP tax bill, but now my life depends on beating it
I don’t like the GOP tax bill, but now my life depends on beating it
My path as an activist had been fairly conventional. After law school, I represented low-wage Latino workers in Queens...
My path as an activist had been fairly conventional. After law school, I represented low-wage Latino workers in Queens who had been victims of wage theft, and I helped write New York City’s groundbreaking paid sick days law. Later, I created a campaign called Fed Up, urging the Federal Reserve to use its economic tools to focus on raising wages and creating jobs, not just minimizing inflation. I didn’t think of myself as a direct beneficiary of these policies: I was an upper-middle class white man with elite degrees, a bright future and financial security. I could focus on empowering others.
Read the full article here.
Hearing on charter schools brings out varied opinions
State Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale got an earful during a daylong meeting in Philadelphia on Friday...
State Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale got an earful during a daylong meeting in Philadelphia on Friday on ways to improve the accountability and effectiveness of charter schools.
Paul Kihn, deputy superintendent of the Philadelphia School District, warned that if Harrisburg passed pending legislation that would permit the unlimited growth of charters, the cost to the district would be so devastating that it might not be able to manage its own schools.
Lawrence Jones Jr., head of Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School in Southwest Philadelphia, said the state needs to provide equitable funding for both district and charter schools.
"This grand experiment is one that is about to collapse under its own weight, because we are doing such a poor job in oversight," said Donna Cooper, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth.
Kyle Serrette, education director for the Washington-based Center for Popular Democracy, said his organization was stunned by the number of federal fraud cases involving charter officials that have occurred in Pennsylvania in recent years.
His group, which works with community groups and unions, called for "a comprehensive investigation that allows the public, regulators, and legislators to better understand the depth of the problem" to improve oversight.
And Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz told the auditor general that his office is taking another look at the district's charter school office and a group of city charter schools.
The review, which he expects to be completed in a few months, is a follow-up to a study his office completed in 2010 which found that the charter office "was not doing its job" overseeing the schools and that questionable practices were rampant at 13 charters it reviewed.
It was the fifth and final meeting that DePasquale has held across the state to gather input on improving the state's 174 taxpayer-funded charters, which enroll 120,000 students.
Philadelphia is home to 86 charters with 67,000 students.
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Brett Kavanaugh's 2nd accuser contacted by the FBI: Lawyer
With only a week to conduct its high-stakes investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Brett...
With only a week to conduct its high-stakes investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, the FBI has already contacted the second woman to accuse the Supreme Court nominee, her lawyer said.
Read the article and watch the video here.
Letter: Congress must pass law for universal health care
Here are the health care issues on which we need government to act......
Here are the health care issues on which we need government to act...
Read the full article here.
1 day ago
1 day ago