Art Perlo
LATEST ARTICLES BY Art Perlo
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The battle to defend Social Security
September 2, 2005Saving Social Security from privatization will be a major theme at Labor Day celebrations around the country, as members of Congress prepare to head back to Washington. Working people are determined to put Congress on notice...
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Missing! Five million workers are missing, and almost nobody has noticed
September 2, 2005When the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that July’s unemployment rate was only 5 percent, President Bush interrupted his five-week vacation to take credit for a strong economy. But a report released earlier this summer...
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Aging population no cause for crisis
July 22, 2005Efforts to convince us that Social Security faces a crisis often start with the demographic argument: the U.S. population is aging. The White House web site says that in 1950 there were 16 active workers supporting...
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The housing bubble
July 15, 2005“The worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history. Prepare for the economic pain when it pops.” That’s the subhead in a special report in The Economist, a leading conservative business journal. From...
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Social Security and the N.Y. Times
May 20, 2005Most Americans do not read The New York Times. But ideas expressed by its columnists make their way into mainstream discussions. Recently, two columnists weighed in with arguments related to Social Security.
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Bushs working retirement: Work till you drop
May 13, 2005“First there was the working lunch, then the working vacation. Now, thanks to George Bush, we are threatened with the working retirement.” That’s the opening of a dramatic new television ad from Moveon.org, opposing the administration’s...
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Jobs, wages and the Goldilocks economy
April 8, 2005In the business pages of newspapers last month, there was cautious talk of a Goldilocks economy: “neither too hot nor too cold, but just right for steady growth.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics had just released...
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Scrap the cap
February 18, 2005Several readers have asked, “How much money could we raise if we get rid of the cap on payroll taxes, and make the rich pay their fair share? Would it be enough to save Social Security?”
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