Behind Consumer Agency Idea, a Fiery Advocate - NYTimes.com.
Don't miss this wonderful article about Elizabeth Warren, law professor at Harvard Law who first came to my attention when she and her daughter wrote a book called "The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke" (2003). I read some of her material at TPMCafe, and watched her appearance on Bill Moyers program, which gave me a sense of the human being behind some important writing and research. Later, she co-authored the study which connected a large share of personal bankruptcies with lack of effective health insurance.
And I share the enthusiasm of the readers' comments there.
She advocates for the middle class, which is a fine idea, and for the consumer, which is also a fine idea. I am led to wonder, however, whether she is familiar with the statistics about middle class income and middle class wealth.
If we define the "middle class" as the middle 60% of the income distribution, our "middle class" has
"She truly believes that markets can work, but she knows that participants in the market have strong incentives to rig things in their favor," says Adam Levitin, a former student of Warren's who specializes in bankruptcy law at Georgetown University. "If participants have a sweet deal, they'll be upset at anyone who wants to level the playing field."
While Warren sees some of that level playing field clearly -- and definitely has a gift for communicating what she sees -- IMHO, she doesn't yet see most of the land-related aspect of it. She senses it, in the chapters of Two-Income Trap which deal with middle-income couples bidding up the price of housing in good school districts, but she doesn't see the half of it yet.
I hope that she might buy (or download -- see the next link) a copy of the modern abridgment of Henry George's landmark book on political economy, "Progress and Poverty" for some airplane reading. (Political economy is the science which deals with the natural laws governing the production and distribution of wealth and services.) One can also read the book online or download MP3s.
Most people don't see the "sweet deal" which has produced the income and wealth distributions described above. But George explains it very clearly.
Don't miss this wonderful article about Elizabeth Warren, law professor at Harvard Law who first came to my attention when she and her daughter wrote a book called "The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke" (2003). I read some of her material at TPMCafe, and watched her appearance on Bill Moyers program, which gave me a sense of the human being behind some important writing and research. Later, she co-authored the study which connected a large share of personal bankruptcies with lack of effective health insurance.
And I share the enthusiasm of the readers' comments there.
She advocates for the middle class, which is a fine idea, and for the consumer, which is also a fine idea. I am led to wonder, however, whether she is familiar with the statistics about middle class income and middle class wealth.
If we define the "middle class" as the middle 60% of the income distribution, our "middle class" has
- less than 26% of the aggregate net worth, and
- about 36% of the pretax income.
- less than 14% of the aggregate net worth, and
- less than 34% of the pretax income. [data source: 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances Chartbook]
"She truly believes that markets can work, but she knows that participants in the market have strong incentives to rig things in their favor," says Adam Levitin, a former student of Warren's who specializes in bankruptcy law at Georgetown University. "If participants have a sweet deal, they'll be upset at anyone who wants to level the playing field."
While Warren sees some of that level playing field clearly -- and definitely has a gift for communicating what she sees -- IMHO, she doesn't yet see most of the land-related aspect of it. She senses it, in the chapters of Two-Income Trap which deal with middle-income couples bidding up the price of housing in good school districts, but she doesn't see the half of it yet.
I hope that she might buy (or download -- see the next link) a copy of the modern abridgment of Henry George's landmark book on political economy, "Progress and Poverty" for some airplane reading. (Political economy is the science which deals with the natural laws governing the production and distribution of wealth and services.) One can also read the book online or download MP3s.
Most people don't see the "sweet deal" which has produced the income and wealth distributions described above. But George explains it very clearly.
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