By The Editors 5/23 11:28am

opinion

No Time for a Raise

New York’s economy may be on firmer ground than, say, Michigan’s, but that’s not saying much. Statewide, the unemployment rate of 8.5 percent is nearly a half-point higher than the national jobless rate. In New York City, the unemployment rate is about 9.5 percent.

So now is not the time for politicians to pass an election-year increase in the state’s minimum wage, currently set at $7.25 an hour. Hikes in the minimum wage invariably lead to fewer new entry-level jobs, and that’s something the city and state can ill afford. Read More

By Chris Lehmann 2/15 10:31am

Class Warfare

coming-apart

The Bull Curve: Charles Murray’s Coming Apart Doesn’t Hold Together

The American scene has become a forbidding place for professional culture scolds on the right. Amid a sluggish recovery, the traditional memes of conservative Kulturkampf—the runaway excesses of political correctness, the snobbery of coastal elites, the home truths of NASCAR—all come across as elite indulgences of their own. Who but Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly or some other high-priced mercenary in the culture struggle still has the energy to inveigh against, say, the war on Christmas, or the lax work ethic of the dependent welfare class? Read More

By The Editors 10/05/11 9:52am

opinion

The Wall Street Protest

It’s hard to know what to make of the ongoing protests on Wall Street, in part because the protesters themselves haven’t been able to send a clear, coherent message. They are angry, that much is certain. And perhaps some have reason to be angry. But hard times have tested the tempers of many New Yorkers, most of whom have resisted the temptation to block traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Any large protest against the so-called establishment, whatever that may mean, is bound to attract a motley crew of aging baby boomers and feckless hipsters who fancy themselves revolutionaries. But the protesters also include many innocent victims of the terrible downturn, from college-educated young people with few if any job prospects to middle-aged parents who wonder if they’ll ever work again. Read More

By Adrianne Jeffries 9/25/11 1:01pm

Occupy Wall Street

20 Photos

Pick a sign!

Some Signs as to What Those Wall Street Protesters Might Want [PHOTOS]

Protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement have been marching, sitting, walking, sleeping, chanting, dancing, drumming and proclaiming in and around Liberty Plaza for eight straight days. Planning for the protest began in July with a call for peaceful revolution by the magazine Adbusters, with the hope that complacent Americans might adopt some of the outrage and effectiveness of the Arab Spring.

The Adbusters writers had a clear aim:

On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices.Tahrir succeeded in large part because the people of Egypt made a straightforward ultimatum – that Mubarak must go – over and over again until they won. Following this model, what is our equally uncomplicated demand? The most exciting candidate that we’ve heard so far is one that gets at the core of why the American political establishment is currently unworthy of being called a democracy: we demand that Barack Obama ordain a Presidential Commission tasked with ending the influence money has over our representatives in Washington. It’s time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY, we’re doomed without it.

But the leaderless movement, which at any one time must be counted by hundreds rather than thousands, is held together by enterprising volunteers who are coordinating the protest via various working groups. The message about a presidential commission has been completely lost. Media attempting to report on the protest grabbed quotes like, “I want to create spectacles,” and “Oh, we’re just here, like, you know, protesting what’s going on.”

After spending a Saturday at the protest, it did seem the various grievances nursed by protesters had a common theme: a vague but certain notion that the richest percentile of the country remains fat and happy as the going-on-five-year-old recession continues to batter the middle and working class.

What do the protesters want to do about it? Less clear! But we found some suggestions in the hand-made signs they carried over the weekend. Read More

By The Editors 12/07/10 2:30pm

Slideshow

Best of 2010: The Biggest Wall Street Stars of the Year

Many Wall Street heavyweights shy away from the spotlight — with good reason. In a world where moneymaking ability frequently trumps all other considerations, it’s best to avoid public scrutiny. Despite a tight-lipped culture, though, a few emissaries from the financial world emerge each year — occasionally for their fantastic achievements, but equally often by Read More

By The Editors 12/06/10 3:30pm

Slideshow

Best of 2010: The Year’s 10 Most Jaw-Dropping Business Quotes

Wall Street tycoons, government regulators and failed outcasts from the world of finance are often measured in their statements to the press, which is why an accidental moment of truth or irony is exceptionally rich when it makes its way through the PR infrastructure that protects corporate America’s interests. From the victims of the crash Read More

By The Editors 12/03/10 6:13pm

Slideshow

Best of 2010: The 10 Most Staggerring Wall Street Surprises of the Year

In 2010, a year marked by a tepid recovery, there were nonetheless some moments of wondrous surprise and genuine shock. Wall Street titans were taken to task, and the markets roiled under the apparent digital whims of robotic traders. Beneath the slow and difficult restructuring of the U.S. economy, some massive and rapid shifts were Read More

By The Editors 12/02/10 8:40pm

Slideshow

Extreme Trading: The Dow Goes Wild … and More!

Each week, The Observer looks at commodities, stocks, currencies and economic data points that are making big moves and setting new records. This week’s extreme action takes place everywhere from the German job market to Russia’s dairy farms. For the most hard-core, eye-popping economic action this week, check out the latest installment of … Read More