Economy – Page 2 – Green Papers

Democracy, Economy, Green Party, Labor, Marxism, Socialism April 24, 2015

Do Marxist Principles Permit Us to Be Greens?

The North Star by Mark Lause, State Committee, Green Party of Ohio March 22, 2015 If I had a dollar for every time I heard somebody say that they wouldn’t support the Greens because they were “a bourgeois party,” I’d probably be able to buy my very own state legislator . . . or, at least, a cheap city councilman. While this assertion seems usually intended to kill the subject, I think a more refined understanding about the class nature of political parties among American Marxists is worth the risk of a discussion. Not that this is easy in 21st…

Economy, State Politics April 3, 2015

Illinois doesn’t have to settle for austerity

The Southern by Rich Whitney April 3, 2015 There is a certain “conventional wisdom” gripping Illinois, shared by our Governor, most legislators, and the vast majority of news media voices, including certain columnists at this paper. According to this narrative, our budget and pension systems are unsustainable due to years of state “overspending” or “living beyond our means.” Now, due to our horribly underfunded public pension systems, our state government has “no choice” but to cut or eliminate pensions and benefits for retirees, dramatically cut state spending, or do some combination of both. Neither the premise nor the conclusion are…

Climate Change, Economy, Environment April 18, 2014

Business Climate Mania in Rhode Island

eco opinions April 16, 2014 by Greg Gerritt Rhode Island is in the economic dumps and its politicians are pledging allegiance to economic growth at all costs and pulling out all of the traditional verbiage and a few new buzz words in the never ending search for faster economic growth. The traditional, but unproven, methods are to cut taxes, reduce regulation, and provide subsidies for those seeking to build or rebuild buildings. It is announced solemnly at least once a week by a powerful politician that he is working to get rid of the impediments to business and thereby create…

Economy, Green Party, New York, Public Campaign Finance Reform, State Politics March 31, 2014

The Green Alternative to Austerity Budgets

by Howie Hawkins March 25, 2014 Austerity budgets mean a whole generation of school children bear the burden of closing budget gaps with cuts in state funding for public schools. They mean scores of towns, school districts, counties, and most upstate cities bear the burden of fiscal distress and impending insolvency because state revenue sharing has been slashed. How long must we wait for meaningful steps on progressive goals like living-wage jobs for the unemployed in public works and services, fully-funded public schools, tuition-free public colleges, health care for all, affordable housing and mass transit, and climate-safe clean energy? …

Economy, Green Party, National Politics, Social Justice March 7, 2014

The Stone that Brings Down Goliath? Richmond and Eminent Domain

The Web of Debt by Ellen Brown March 3, 2014 In a nearly $13 billion settlement with the US Justice Department in November 2013, JPMorganChase admitted that it, along with every other large US bank, had engaged in mortgage fraud as a routine business practice, sowing the seeds of the mortgage meltdown. JPMorgan and other megabanks have now been caught in over a dozen major frauds, including LIBOR-rigging and bid-rigging; yet no prominent banker has gone to jail. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of all mortgages nationally remain underwater (meaning the balance owed exceeds the current value of the home), sapping…