Interview with Alan Essig on the 2014 state budget in Georgia.

In what is becoming year end tradition I sat down with Alan Essig of GBPI to talk about the economy,state budget, and what issues fill be facing lawmakers when they come in to town in 2014.

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that strives to raise the level of public policy debate in the state of Georgia.

For more on their work please check out their website: http://gbpi.org/ 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gabudget 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabudget

And please consider GBPI in your list of year end charitable donations.  They are great people doing some really important work for citizens here in Georgia.

Opposition to increasing the minimum wage fall under 3 subgroups

1) The foolish: People who really aren't paying close attention and puppet Fox News.
2) The neofeudal: People (usually business owners) who are looking to keep and sustain the current economic environment so that they can continue exploiting the power imbalances that have been created with a large labor supply that keeps workers desperate and willing to work for whatever scraps from the table they are deemed worthy.
3) The intellectually confused: a small but influential crew who have actually thought long and hard about these issues but have taken a number of wrong turns and sloppy logical leaps that have left them with a fundamentally flawed understanding about the origins of money and the way the capitalists economies function.

Letting loose an army of well informed Walmart and McDonalds employees, provided with appropriate number of pitch forks, would solve this dilemma quite quickly--if history is any guide.

Debt: The First 5000 Years - Extended Interview with David Graeber

If you haven't read Graebers book Debt you need to check it out...

The quest for high-speed fiber

Knowledge is power and reading is good for you--- linkfest...

 I've read things; you should too!

Reading is good for you:  5 Studies Showing Why Reading is Healthy! 

Putting a $9 minimum wage in context | Economic Policy Institute 
Raising Minimum Wage to Not Enough to Ensure that Families with Fulltime Workers Live Above Poverty Line | CEPR Blog 
The Minimum Wage: A Crash Course 
Fast-Food Wages Come With a $7 Billion Side of Public Assistance - Businessweek 
Shining a Light on ALEC’s Power to Shape Policy
One In Four American Workers Will Be In Low-Wage Jobs For The Next Decade
Poverty nation: How America created a low-wage work swamp 
Garbage and Gravitas | The Nation Corey Robin on Ayn Rand
You're probably making 10% less than you were ten years ago. The top 0.01 percent is making 76.2% more. 
States losing billions in refusing to expand Medicaid, report finds - NBC News.com 
David Bonior: The South finally coming around on benefits of unions 
Moral Monday Movement Coming to Georgia
Tax Shift Plans Threaten Georgia’s Future | Georgia Budget and Policy Institute 
Parental leave 20 years after FMLA
Union busting is a mortal sin [PDF]
Middle-Out Economics: A Truer Form of Capitalism | The Institute for New Economic Thinking
Cutting Class to Make Ends Meet | Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
Mandela: The Man and the Movement

And for your viewing pleasure:






What have you been reading?

Does politics need more philosophy?

Obviously my degree in Philosophy leads me to believe the answer is a clear cut: yes please.

"Rich people don't create jobs"

Afternoon break... #enjoy

“Music... will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.” 
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keynes’ proposed international currency; and why we need it.

Yves Smith sends us over to a good talk given by Steve Keen on the international financial architecture.

Take some time to watch it.  You'll learn something.

You may also want to check out Keen's well regarded book: Debunking Economics - Revised and Expanded Edition: The Naked Emperor Dethroned?


I haven't read it (but if you buy it via that link you can help me afford to buy it as Amazon gives me a percentage).

If you'd like to skip reading it yourself you can help me buy it so I can learn a few things to pass along to you: donate here.