Two Economies in America

This is a tale of two economies.
In one of these economies, employees on Wall Street are pulling in record salaries that average around $1 million.
In the other economy, workers’ wages are falling. “Pay cuts are occurring more frequently than at any time since the Great Depression,” writes Louis Uchitelle of The New York Times.
In the one economy, J.P. Morgan Chase is reporting a quarterly profit of $3.59 billion.
In the other economy, foreclosures are going through the roof.
In the one economy, the stock market flirts with the 10,000 mark.
In the other economy, 9.8 percent of Americans are officially out of work, and the actual number is almost twice that many, especially when you count the underemployed.
One economy is for the rich and the upper middle class.
The other economy is for everybody else.
And the people running the economy of the rich are the rich themselves. Tim Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, has surrounded himself with people who made a fortune on Wall Street. His predecessor, Hank Paulson, headed up Goldman Sachs.
Is it any wonder, then, that they fixed the economy of the rich, and let the other one go?
And still today, Congress has not passed a bill outlawing the crazy and crooked trading on Wall Street that got us into this mess.
Because Congress consists largely of the rich, or those on retainer for the rich.
One member of Congress who isn’t in either category is Senator Bernie Sanders.
In a speech at Fighting Bob Fest in Wisconsin last month, he said: “The great cause of this crisis is the incredible greed and selfishness that exists in the ruling elite of America.”
Despite all the wreckage which that elite has created over the last two years, we are no closer to curbing the greed and selfishness.
Until we do so, we will remain a country of two economies.
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
This form needs Javascript to display, which your browser doesn't support. Sign up here instead
|
Resist Censorship in Tucson
- Banned in Tucson
- An Interview with Carlos Muñoz on the Tucson Book Ban
| Banned Authors Respond | |
CURRENT ISSUE: FEBRUARY 2012
Inside the Occupy Movement
Arun Gupta and Michelle Fawcett | We visited nearly thirty occupations in twenty states in two months.
A Taste of Freedom
Breanna Lembitz | I spent seven weeks in Zuccotti Park, and here is what I got.
Anniversary Blues
Edwidge Danticat | Two years ago in Haiti, the Earth opened, buildings collapsed, and people died—300,000 to be precise. Anniversaries hurt. They brutalize the body. They pummel the spirit.
Progressive Matt
The Koch Brothers Conspire to Buy the White House
Standing for Justice at the Capitol. Matthew Rothschild.
Come to Progressive Talks and Events
Thurs. Feb. 9, 7:00 p.m., Madison
Ruth Conniff on
"The Wisconsin Uprising"
MATC Downtown, Rm. D240 (211 N. Carroll St.) Room D240
Sun. Feb. 12, 5:30 p.m., Madison
Matthew Rothschild,
"Forward for the First Amendment"
Madison Eastside Club (3735 Monona Dr.)
Thursday February 16 at 7:30 p.m.
VandeBurg Room, Pyle Center. Madison, WI
Not Just Gandhi: The Tradition of Nonviolence Among Muslims in South Asia
Amitabh Pal Managing Editor, The Progressive magazine.
Read more >>
Friday February 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Kate Clinton at the Barrymore with Michael Feldman in Madison.
Thursday February 23 at 3:30 p.m.
Garden Key Room, Student Union, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
Islam Means Peace: Understanding the Muslim Principle of Nonviolence Today
Amitabh Pal Managing Editor, The Progressive magazine.
Read more >>
Ruth Conniff at the People's Legislature in Madison










Comments