All posts by Rima Regas

US unemployment at lowest since 2008 – but young people still can’t find work


On Friday, the jobless rate dropped to 5.5%, the lowest in seven years. But youth unemployment is rising – and some young people need all the help they can get

Continue reading US unemployment at lowest since 2008 – but young people still can’t find work

Polarization: who is to blame? | Analysis

President Obama gave Vox an interview last month. In it, he blamed a lack of uniformity of facts and worldview as we had them 20 and 30 years ago on a “balkanization” of the media. He blamed Fox News and MSNBC for contributing to polarization, and technology, presumably the internet, for furthering it.  It has been reported that MSNBC is currently making changes to make the network less progressive. President Obama doesn’t watch cable news.

Continue reading Polarization: who is to blame? | Analysis

Middle Class Economics: Josh Barro nails some critical points | Jared Bernstein | On the Economy

Josh Barro does an excellent job describing many of the key points about the challenges of crafting what politicians are calling “middle-class economics.” As I see it, they’re talking about policies that reconnect overall economic growth and the prosperity of the middle class. Though median household incomes have been rising in recent years, as best we can tell, they’re still down 1.5% in real terms over the recovery and about 3% below their pre-recession peak (these are not gov’t data; they come from the private firm Sentier Research). Meanwhile real GDP’s up 14%, corporate profitability is up about 50%, and equity markets have about doubled in real terms. Continue reading Middle Class Economics: Josh Barro nails some critical points | Jared Bernstein | On the Economy

James Baldwin on Malcolm X (Video) | Blog#42

It is especially important, in 2015, in the midst of Black Lives Matter and Moral Monday, to look back through Baldwin’s eyes, in order to look forward. As the younger generation finds its voice and asserts its leadership of the new civil rights struggle, Baldwin’s words ring prophetic.  Continue reading James Baldwin on Malcolm X (Video) | Blog#42

Inequality and the end of #ISIS

There is a very strong case for calling ISIS a terrorist organization. However, unlike Al Qaeda, the people who founded ISIS built it on a foundation that is rooted on every last tenet of Islam. In fact, if we can accuse ISIS of anything, it is of being too punctilious in applying Islamic canon.  In this sense, ISIS is no different than the extreme of any religion. While Christianity ended its crusades a few hundred years ago, it isn’t implausible for Islam to now wage its own version. It is, after all, the youngest of the major religions. Continue reading Inequality and the end of #ISIS