Wages & Prices

Don't like the notion of Wall Street employees receiving bonuses? Shoot the messenger - as Adam Green at The Huffington Post has done. In a Feb. 2 post on The Huffington Post, Green said it was bad form for CNBC "Street Signs" host Erin Burnett to even think about considering the other side of the anti-Wall Street bonus argument, since some Wall Street banks received TARP funds, courtesy of the…

With all the populist sentiment generated from the economic slowdown by politicians, CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer is seeing eerie similarities with the comments of President Barack Obama and the words of a communist revolutionary. Cramer, appearing on MSNBC's Feb. 2 "Morning Joe," drew comparisons between remarks between the first head of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin, and Obama. Obama…

Being an outspoken conservative in the media has proven dicey lately, as the Democrat-controlled Congress and White House are working toward seeing an $819 billion stimulus bill signed into law. According to Ann Coulter, there has been a double standard applied to those outspoken conservatives. Coulter appeared on the Fox News Channel's "America's Newsroom" on Jan. 30 to promote her new book, "…

You've heard it here, there and everywhere in the news media - the time is now for a big-government economic stimulus package, not only to revive the economy, but to salvage America's crumbling infrastructure. That's one of the selling points used over and over again by pundits, as they are paraded out repeatedly on broadcast and cable network news programs - that so-called "shovel-ready"…

Here are the key numbers (in red) in Uncle Sam's November Personal Income and Outlays report (the July : Common sense says that the chart's results after adjusting for inflation are more important (identified as "Chained [2000] dollars") than those in current dollars. Consmers' disposable income went up 1.0% in real (after-inflation) terms in November after a 0.7% increase in October. It took a…

Sure, its revenues might be plunging along with its share price, but the New York Times is still good for something.  In these somber days of winter, the Gray Lady, her name notwithstanding, can still inject the sunshine of humor—albeit of the unintentional variety.Take its current editorial, Getting Immigration Right -- please. With jobs at a premium and the collapse of the Big Three automakers…

It's special treatment for automakers, according to a former airline executive. Gordon Bethune, the former CEO of Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL), now a CNBC contributor, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Dec. 19 the political process is being substituted for what otherwise should be a bankruptcy judge in determining the fate of the big three automakers. "Wow, what makes them exempt from reality?…

Just how bad is the economy? ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" went all the way to Edwardsburg, Mich. to find out.  The Dec. 18 broadcast of "World News" highlighted a new economic indicator - the increase in the number of people willing to lend their body to science for money. "We're going to turn next to some of the extreme measures that some Americans are taking because of the…

No, it's a not a story from the Onion. It's AFP reporting on the actions of Associated Press photographers and journalists:US news agency staff stage 'byline strike' Journalists and photographers at the US news agency the Associated Press (AP) are withholding their bylines to protest management's stance in contract talks, their union said. "Staffers recognize the tough times, but they also…

The proposed automaker bailout has a big stamp on it that says "union-built," but the news media hasn't noticed. Over the past month, accusations have been flying against several Southern senators who oppose a $14 billion bailout for the beleaguered big three automakers and support the the alternative of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. These senators, critics say, are representing the interests of…

To the extent the MSM has been willing to report on the disadvantage under which the Big Three automakers operate compared to their non-union competitors, the focus has been on the huge wage differential. On this evening's Fox News Watch, conservative columnist Jim Pinkerton highlighted another issue which has gone largely unreported in the liberal media: the onerous union work rules that add…

Though there's not a ruble's worth of difference between their politics, I normally find Rachel Maddow a kinder, gentler, smarter version of Keith Olbermann.  Not tonight.  Granted, the Countdown host was on hiatus.  But even if Olby had been around, he would have been hard-pressed to outdo Maddow for sheer silliness.The preposterous proposition Rachel propounded?  Republicans just don't want…

Let's hope we haven't seen the last of economist Peter Morici on CBS.  The University of Maryland business professor, appearing on the Early Show this morning, put the blame for the failure of Big Three bailout squarely on the shoulders of the UAW for its refusal to accept pay cuts putting its members on par with non-union workers at US plants owned by foreign car manufacturers.  The Early Show…

The failure of American media to properly vet the political beliefs of Barack Obama during the just concluded presidential campaign was on full display Sunday when the president-elect made clear just how much of a socialist he really is, and did so with nary a challenge from "Meet the Press" moderator Tom Brokaw.Makes you wonder what the results might have been on November 4 if the press had done…