Back from vacation and trying to keep up with the news out of Detroit, where the state is moving quickly to takeover city government. As the recession continues, and state budgets continue in the red, some cities are cutting down to the bone. What distinguishes these latest austerity measures is how noticeable they are to…
Category: Austerity
The Age Of Austerity?
Short piece from July on how the language of austerity (and “shared sacrifice”) is being used in the national debate around debt, stimulus, and taxes. The gist: The language of austerity has so far benefited the Republican position, which is all cuts and no taxes. The piece links to Nancy Pelosi’s statement of July 25…
NYT Editorial on Public Sector Job Loss
What better place to dive into urban austerity than through the question of public employee layoffs? The New York Times editorial today is about the disproportionate impact of such layoffs on Black workers: There were 20,000 government workers laid off last month, by far the largest drop for any sector of the economy, mostly from states,…
As Public Sector Sheds Jobs, Blacks Are Hit Hardest
Pamela Sparks, a longtime postal worker in Baltimore, has several relatives at the Postal Service and worries about their jobs. Full article
The hidden toll of privatization
What governments save in salaries and benefits often “ends up on the government books through all sorts of programs,” said Paul C. Light, a professor at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, referring to unemployment insurance, Medicaid and other public assistance for workers earning low incomes. … Economists and other academics who study…