Categories: Occupy Wall Street

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 15

Trip to Long Island's Gold Coast: Among the 1%, Many Variations (NY Times) The income gap: Unfair, or Are We Just Jealous? (NPR) Cost of globalization: White House Brags...

A Closer Look at the Hands that Make Apple iPads and Victoria's Secret Panties

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 13

It's an uncomfortable fact of modern life that many iconic consumer products are built by people who could never afford to buy them. Yet there is great risk to...

The 5 Percent Solution to Paying for College

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 12

There's an interesting post and comment stream over at Lou Lavelle's B-schools blog, about an alternative plan for funding a college education in California. The Fix UC proposal would...

Romney Attack Video Goes Places Democrats Only Dream of Going

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 11

Ronald Reagan famously popularized the Eleventh Commandment, "thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." Now that my colleague Josh Green has obtained a copy of the highly...

Romney Gets a Lesson in Creative Destruction From GOP Rivals

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 09

Mitt Romney knew he'd eventually come in for a beating for his role as a buyout specialist who restructured companies, sometimes chopping jobs in pursuit of a profit. He...

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 08

Misreading college majors: How Art History Powers the Economy (View, Postrel) Beware narcissistic CEOs: The Ego Has Landed (WSJ) 12 years to close the gap: Shrinking Job Opportunities (Hamilton...

The Winners and Losers in Today's Jobs Report

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 06

The jobs pictured brightened considerably at the end of 2011 -- and if you were in mining and oil, it's positively booming. This morning's Bureau of Labor Statistics report...

Opportunity in America: One Campaign Fight Worth Waging

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 05

A front-page article in today's New York Times examines the long odds of rising from the lowest rungs of American society. It's a more complex issue, of more consequence,...

Chevy Salesman Santa Thumps Lexus 'Insufferables'

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 04

Yes, Virginia, people buy cars at Christmas. And last month, they bought a lot of them. Just not that many Lexuses. As you no doubt recall, last month we...

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 02

The rich seek refuge: New Art Buyers Boost 2011 Sales to $1.7 Billion (Bloomberg) Occupy's Rose Parade float: 70-foot octopus of corporate greed (LA Times) Resolutions: Saving the New...

Sympathy for the Successful: Billionaires Bite Back

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 21

A story from Bloomberg's Max Abelson yesterday noted the opening of a media counter-offensive by the 1 percent against what many of them believe are unwarranted attacks on wealth,...

Timely Retirements, Outrageous Bonuses, and Other Epic Executive Handouts

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 21

Experienced financial reporters know that the best dirt on executive excess isn't found in a press release or annual report, but gets buried deep in routine reports corporations file...

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 18

Occupy Rome: Roman Empire more equal than the U.S. (Marginal Revolution) "Story ends badly": China's Local Government Debts Dwarf Official Data (Bloomberg) Feel-good story: Anonymous donors pay off Kmart...

China's Wealth Disparity Erupts in Wukan Protests

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 16

The Occupy Wall Street protests in the U.S. are a delayed reaction to a bursting property bubble, which led to a jobs crisis and rising anger over financial influence...

Bonuses Dive, Stocks Tank: Goodbye Income Gap?

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 14

2011 is ending with a clunk for Masters of the Universe. Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business just Tweeted: "Sources at BOFA's Merrill unit say execs are bracing for some...

Welcome to the Income-Gap Capital of the U.S.A.

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 12

At the height of the Occupy Wall Street protests, some critics pointed out that the lower-Manhattan camp was misplaced in that it missed the real seats of financial power:...

Lexus Christmas Commercials and Wealth Envy

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 12

Pity the folks at Team One, the unit of ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi that works the Lexus account. Each year they have to come up with new ways...

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 10

Occupy campus recruiting: An Orange and Black Eye for 2 Banks (DealBook) From a rich American: Rich People Don't Create Jobs (Blodget, Business Insider) Post-grads' lament: Trapped by $50,000...

Top Income Tax Rate: How's 83% Sound?

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 09

This should get Grover Norquist up off the couch: a paper by a prominent team of economists says the tax rate for top U.S. earners could be hiked to...

Obama: I Don't Hate the Millionaire Next Door

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 07

Here's one way to interpret President Obama's speech yesterday in Osawatomie, Kansas: It's his attempt to tie together the loose-knit complaints of the 99% -- against wealth accumulation by the...

No Tents = No Cameras = No Audience = No Occupy

Posted by: Mark Gimein on December 07

Three weeks ago, when New York City evicted the protesters from Zuccotti Park, it was not immediately clear what the outcome of the raid would be. I wrote in...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 06

Ask the birds: What makes a rogue trader? (FT, HT/The Big Picture) Hurt feelings?: It's Tone, Not Taxes, a Tycoon Tells Obama (Dealbook, NY Times) It's a Wonderful Lie:...

The Income Gap Grows -- As Does the Spouse Gap

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 05

The gap between rich and poor is growing, and not just in the U.S. The latest report on the topic from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development tells...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 05

Advice from the 1%: Lever Up, Drop Out (Lewis, View) Powerball payoff: Hedge fund lottery winners donate $1M for veterans (AP) Black college major choices: 'Opting Out' (Inside Higher...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 03

Jobs and 2012: Democrats, GOP Seize on Competing Narratives (NY Times) Why 8.6%=bad news: A Note on the Unemployment Rate Drop (Brad DeLong) 8% more to go: Home Prices...

Black Friday Shoppers: Not as Poor as You Thought

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 02

The Black Friday shopper may be wealthier than we thought. A week ago, I posed the question of whether there is a class divide between those who hit the...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 02

Surprise: U.S. Jobless Rate Unexpectedly Declines to 8.6% (Bloomberg) Finding Community at OWS: All the Angry People (New Yorker) Don't say "capitalism": Teaching the GOP to talk about OWS...

Thursday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 01

Occupied on the inside: On Wall Street, Some Express Quiet Outrage (DealBook) Young Analyst To 99%: 'The Finance Industry Is A Complete Scam' (Business Insider) Forget job creators: The...

The Strangest History Of Apple Ever

Posted by: Mark Gimein on November 30

Reading Debt: The First 5,000 Years, the history of the economics and ethics of debt by David Graeber, I stumbled on one of the oddest histories of Silicon Valley...

Wednesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 30

Occupy LA, Philly: Police Raids Clear Camps (Bloomberg) Shadow of Assange: OWS and Advantages of a Leaderless Movement (NY Magazine) Peer pressure: At Top Colleges, Anti-Wall St. Fervor Complicates...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 29

$100 billion IPO: Why Greedy Stockholders Could Hurt Facebook (TechCrunch) "Crony capitalism": How Paulson Tipped Hedge Funds to GSE Plan (Bloomberg) More, please: Bloomberg Report Exposes the Fed Doing...

Judge on Citi's SEC Deal: "An engine of oppression"

Posted by: Joel Stonington on November 28

Federal Judge Jed S. Rakoff struck down a $285 million settlement between the SEC and Citigroup on Monday. To outsiders who've complained that banks have gotten away with slaps...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 28

Occupy LA: Police and Los Angeles protesters skirmish (Reuters) Secrets of the Fed: Banks Made $13B on Undisclosed Loans (Bloomberg) 2012=1968?: How OWS could consume Obama (NY Magazine) A...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 27

To leave or stay in LA: Some vow civil disobedience at midnight (LA Times) 5 PM deadline: Occupy Philadelphia weighs options (Philly Inquirer) Protest becomes performance: The Man Behind...

Black Friday, Pepper Spray, and Holiday Shopping Myths

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 25

It's now official: 2011 will go down as the Year of Pepper Spray. First, the incidents of police spraying Occupy demonstrators in New York and at UC Davis. And...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 25

Cuff loan approvers?: America's Modern-Day Debtor's Prison (McArdle, Atlantic) Big plans: Protesters Look for Ways to Feed the Web (NY Times) Forget college: 9 Hot Blue Collar Jobs (The...

Wednesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 23

Low value-added: What's the Contribution of the Financial Sector? (Naked Capitalism) "Homogeneously high-skilled": The Great Work Divide (McArdle, Atlantic) $30 camcorders: Stores Bow to Shoppers on Black Friday (Bloomberg)...

Finding the Humor in Occupy Wall Street

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 22

Before "Saturday Night Live," before "Animal House," there was "Lemmings" -- a biting 1973 Off-Broadway musical satire about Woodstock and the peace movement. Written by young comic geniuses from...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 22

Unoccupied: Wave of Layoffs Hits Wall Street (Bloomberg) Pepper-spray apology: Angry UC Davis protesters confront chancellor (SF Chronicle) "Modern-day debtor's prison": Debtor Arrests Criticized (WSJ) Home of the 1%:...

Beyond UC Davis, Worse Tactics Than Pepper Spray

Posted by: Mark Gimein on November 21

This weekend, videos of the pepper spraying of protesters at UC Davis went viral. Many students captured a police officer, Lieutenant John Pike, directing the pepper spray canister at...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 21

Bizarro Supercommittee: A Neverending Cycle of Dysfunction (Atlantic) Goodbye, growth: The supercommittee's real failure isn't on the deficit (Klein, WashPost) Lobbyist: Banks should "undermine" Occupy protesters (MSNBC, HT/ Business...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 20

UC Davis, call for restraint: Too Much Violence, Pepper Spray (Atlantic) UC Davis reactions: The Moral Power of an Image (Fallows, Atlantic) The near-poor: Older, Suburban and Struggling (NY...

OccupyTheInternet.com*: The OWS Digital Land Grab

Posted by: Suzanne Woolley on November 18

While Occupy[fill-in-the-blank]ers are being rousted from camps in the U.S. and abroad, there's a digital land grab underway. Godaddy.com has sold 5,200 domain names with "occupy" in them from September...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 18

March on Wall Street: Clashes, 240 Arrests Mark 'Day of Action' (NY Times) Going mobile: Occupy Wall Street's new tactics (NY Magazine) "The consumer is an income stream": Why...

Occupy Wall Street After 2 Months: A Scorecard

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 17

It began on Sept. 17 with a few hundred people gathering in lower Manhattan. The protest -- against banks, moneyed influence in Washington, corporate power, and a host of...

Fighting Your Way To The NYSE

Posted by: Micha Rondeau on November 17

Producer Micha Rondeau is directing Bloomberg TV's coverage of today's march on the New York Stock Exchange and protesters' return to Zuccotti Park. While arrests were made, few cameras...

Thursday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 17

Live coverage: Occupy Wall Street's day of action (Guardian) Subways, stock exchange: New York City Protesters on the March (Bloomberg) Dennis Gartman: God bless income disparity (FT Alphaville) Tick:...

OWS: Simple as You Want It to Be

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 16

At the tail end of a long interview with Betty Liu on Bloomberg TV today, AIG Chairman Steve Miller was asked what he thought of Occupy Wall Street's criticism...

In Zuccotti Park, Tents Are Gone, People Stay

Posted by: Mark Gimein on November 16

The Occupation is dead. Long live the Occupation! Just before one o'clock this morning, less than 20 hours after Zuccotti Park was cleared by the New York City police,...

Wednesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 16

Now what?: Occupy Wall Street's Eviction Was a Lucky Break (Atlantic) Hold the pepper spray: After an Earlier Misstep, a Minutely Planned Raid (NY Times) Heard on the street:...

Blocked From Raid, The Media Await A Next Act

Posted by: Mark Gimein on November 15

"Those who were arrested wanted to be arrested," New York City's police commissioner told reporters after today's police raid on Zuccotti park. It's hard to know if this is...

The End Of Utopia In Zuccotti Park

Posted by: Mark Gimein on November 15

Early this morning, the police moved in to clear Zuccotti Park. Whether this was the last day for tent city is still being argued in court. Mike Bloomberg, the...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 15

NYC cracks down: Police Clear Zuccotti Park of Protesters (NY Times) What's next: Mayor speaks, protesters plan next move (NY Times, City Room blog) Prelude to the crackdown: Protesters...

Crackdown at Occupy Camps in Oakland, Portland

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 14

Police in Oakland, Calif., moved in overnight to clear out the Occupy Oakland camp, hours after police in Portland, Oregon, did the same in that city. At last report...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 14

Perfect timing: Is Congress trading stock on inside information? (60 Minutes, CBS) Capitol gains: Congress and stocks: Does it matter? (Atlantic) Fee for all: Banks Quietly Ramping Up Costs...

Military Veterans and Corporate America

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 13

My post last Friday about the jobless picture for young veterans clearly struck a nerve. The commentary that followed ranges across issues of war, peace, hope, despair, skills training --...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 12

Chef takes heat: Bankers Blast Batali; Others Say 'Leave Mario Alone!' (Bloomberg) Sandy Weill's $88 million downsizing: Occupy This, OWS (Greiff, Bloomberg View) Back at ya: Occupy Wall Street...

Unemployment for Young Vets: 30%, and Rising

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 11

On Veterans Day in America, it's sobering to realize just how badly the job market has turned against the men and women who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their...

Occupy Wall Street, Day 56

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 11

Margaret Brennan of Bloomberg Television provides a quick roundup of OWS news from, where else, the New York Stock Exchange floor. Here's some more context on the first two...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 11

J.C. Penney takes a stand: Thanksgiving as Day to Shop Meets Rejection (NY Times) Congrats, you made the 10Q: OWS Gets CME Group's Attention (Footnoted.org) Bad day for OWS:...