The Berkeley Blog » Sylvia Allegretto

Austerity: Kind of a drag

Sylvia Allegretto — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:59:40 +0000

“Start with a basic point: Slashing government spending destroys jobs and causes the economy to shrink.” –from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman (2/8/13).

Krugman, I and others have cautioned against austerity for years. It simply never made any sense to make an already weak economy weaker by slashing government spending before having a sustained and robust recovery. But, as job losses were mounting to post-depression unprecedented highs, the deficit hawks swept in. They ignored all that we know about economic theory and practice and pivoted from the real crisis of jobs to the presently non-threatening issue of government deficits and ... More >

Slip slidin’ away

Sylvia Allegretto — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 22:26:51 +0000

Today (Sept. 12) the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage for 2011. Data from the report represents the second full year of economic recovery (which official started in June 2009). From the top line statistics, poverty held steady at 15% (46.2 million people) and the number of people without health insurance coverage declined from 50 million in 2010 to 48.6 million in 2011. The big changes were with regard to income as illustrated in the figure.

Median household incomes continued to slide in the U.S and more so in California. In the U.S. ... More >

This labor day … waiting for change

Sylvia Allegretto — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:47:25 +0000

Did you know that the federal sub-minimum wage received by tipped workers has been $2.13 per hour for the past 22 years? No joke, it has been and it is way past due for a change. The figure shows the inflation adjusted value of the regular federal minimum wage along with the sub-minimum wage received by tipped workers.

The sub-minimum wage was decoupled from the federal minimum and frozen at its current level in 1996*; prior to that it was at least 50 percent of the regular minimum. Today the sub-minimum wage is at the lowest share of the regular minimum ... More >

The wrecking ball

Sylvia Allegretto — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 06:33:43 +0000

The destruction caused by the bursting of the housing bubble and the subsequent Great Recession continues to wreck havoc on our economy, communities, families and workers. Last month, the Federal Reserve released 2010 data from its Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). This triennial survey, one of the best sources on net worth (assets minus liabilities) for the U.S., just happened to coincide with the recession.

The 2007 SCF reflected the state of wealth at the last economic peak — as the recession officially began in December of that year. With the newly released 2010 data it is possible to assess where ... More >

The few, the proud, the very rich

Sylvia Allegretto — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:48:52 +0000

Much of the current political and popular discourse has focused on inequalities that exist in the U.S. In particular the Occupy movement has brought the huge disparities in wealth to the forefront. There are a few questions floating around about wealth. First, how skewed is the distribution? Second, it is true that the rich have gotten much richer over time? — a statement I often heard my Grandma make.

Well, there is a plethora of statistics (e.g. here, here, & here) out there but here are two. The share of wealth held by the top fifth is about 87.2 percent while ... More >

Social Security — A pillar of retirement income

Sylvia Allegretto — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:53:45 +0000

Last week my friends down the hall at the Center for Labor Research and Education released a new book titled Meeting California’s Retirement Security Challenge edited by Nari Rhee. The book (available free for download) addresses many issues pertaining to retirement, and my part reports the lay of the land for current retirees in the United States and specifically for California. This figure is from my contribution in the book’s second chapter and it illustrates current sources of income for retirees in California.

The top pie chart represents income sources for low income retirees in California, defined as those with incomes ... More >

The fallout from the Great Recession continues

Sylvia Allegretto — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:11:46 +0000

Last week the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage for 2010. Data from the report represents that of the first full year into our economic recovery (which official started in June 2009). It is no surprise, given the focus of this report and the weak recovery, that it is filled with bad news: poverty is up, health insurance coverage and incomes are down.

For this post I’ll focus on median household income from the report for the United States and California. From 2009 to 2010 median income in the U.S. fell by $1,154 ... More >

Jobs outlook not pretty this Labor Day

Sylvia Allegretto — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:21:47 +0000

Next week President Obama will unveil his jobs plan and today’s employment report won’t make it easier for him as job growth was zilch in August.

The post-Labor Day speech will introduce his strategy to promote economic growth and create jobs. The White House has been tight lipped about the details but it is expected new initiatives along with some olds ones will be forwarded. I won’t speculate as to what is going to be included in the President’s plan—instead I’ll highlight the jobs situation as it is on this Labor Day, and in light of this past June ... More >