Has the recession left you with a lot of time but not a lot of dough? Or a lot of dough but not a lot of money? There’s help, as always, online. Recession Cooking – Try “feel better tea,” which includes ginger, honey, fennel seeds, and–if you really want to fell better and you’re not [...]

ProfessorBainbridge.com is a very interesting law blog where we found this post critical of the Obama administration’s executive pay policy. But what really struck us was the “Interests” section of the About page. Transmission or receipt of information contained in this web site does not create an attorney-client relationship. No assurance is given that any [...]

The Obama administration has announced that seven companies which received government bailout money will need to cut compensation to their highest-paid employees. (The Fed today also announced a pay-review plan designed to cut down on excessive risk-taking. Reaction to that later.) From the New York Times: The plan, for the 25 top earners at seven [...]

A lot of people don’t have money to buy new stuff these days. But unfortunately, lack of resources and lack of need don’t always go hand-in-hand. So whatcha gonna do when something you own doesn’t work the way it used to? Repair it!

A couple of days ago, a new web site covering the city of Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area called Oakland Local launched. From the site’s “About” page: Oakland Local is an independent, non-profit community news and information hub, connecting community and news. Our site combines original investigative and feature reporting with community news [...]

You may have caught the news item yesterday about a stunt that the satirical group The Yes Men pulled at the National Press Club. Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum posed as a spokesman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, announcing that the business group had reversed its position opposing climate change legislation and would cease campaigning [...]

Two Americans shared the Nobel Prize for Economics this year: Oliver Williamson and Elinor Ostrom. Ostrom, the first woman to win the economics prize, co-founded the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis with her husband at Indiana University.

One interpretation of the significance of Ostrom’s award is offered by peace studies educator Randall Amster in The Huffington Post, called “Why Ostrom’s Nobel is Even More Shocking Than Obama’s.”

Remember when protesters at this summer’s town hall meetings started chanting “Read the bill! Read the bill!“? Friends, don’t let this happen to you. The Senate Finance Committee has now posted its health care bill—all 1,502 pages of it—so that it’s viewable for anyone to see. A couple of quick observations: First, unlike a lot [...]

Here’s an excellent video slide show from last week’s protest and one-day general strike in San Juan, Puerto Rico in response to the government’s proposed lay-offs of more than 20,000 workers. The unemployment rate in Puerto Rico is 15 percent. Click twice on the video to see it full-size. And here’s a six-minute video of [...]

From the online magazine Slate, earlier this year: Grim economic times produce indelible images. The Great Depression calls to mind grainy news photos of bank runs and soup kitchens, and the harrowing portraits taken by Walker Evans. The downturn of the 1970s evokes images of yacht-size cars idling in line at the gas station. But [...]