Fed’s Lofty Profit Becomes Treasury’s Gain. [WSJ.com] – The Federal Reserve turned $76.9 billion of its profits over to the U.S. Treasury last year, close to the record amount transferred to government coffers in 2010 amid gains generated in its expanding portfolio of securities.
Economics
Renewables Overtook Nuclear Power in 2011
Did renewables overtake nuclear power in 2011? Sort of. [The Washington Post] – In 2011, for the first time in decades, the United States got more of its energy from renewable sources than it did from nuclear power. Not only that, but renewables are growing much faster than any other energy source.
Capital Gains Biggest Driver of Income Inequality
The biggest driver of income inequality: capital gains. [The Washington Post] – Changes in income from capital gains and dividends were the single largest contributor to rising income inequality between 1996 and 2006, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan public policy branch of Congress.
Worker-Owners of America, Unite!
Gar Alperovitz, author of America Beyond Capitalism, writes in the New York Times about a possible trend toward economic democracy.
Worker-Owners of America, Unite! [NYTimes.com] – Some 130 million Americans now participate in the ownership of co-op businesses and credit unions. More than 13 million Americans have become worker-owners of more than 11,000 employee-owned companies, six million more than belong to private-sector unions.
Alperovitz also appeared on Democracy Now! this week to discuss his notion that we may be in the midst of a profound transition towards an economy characterized by more democratic structures of ownership.
Waiting On The Ghost of Tom Joad
From the 2008 Magic Tour, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are joined by Tom Morello for a song in the tradition of Woody Guthrie.
I believe it’s fitting to contemplate as we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday.
“The highway is alive tonight….”