‘But We Cannot Have Both’

Ian Ayres and Aaron S. Edlin are pushing for a Brandeis tax based on maintaining a Brandeis ratio of 36-to-1.

I hope they keeping pushing for this, even though I doubt their proposal will go anywhere. I’m just happy they’re calling it a “Brandeis tax” and a “Brandeis ratio,” because every time anyone asks why they’re calling them that, they can quote this, from Supreme Court Justice Louis D Brandeis:

We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.

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“U.S. CEOs got totally deserved, completely merit-based raises of 36.47% last year”

“Wages for everybody else have either been in decline or stagnated in this period, and that’s for those who are in work,” said [Paul] Hodgson [a senior research associate at GMI Ratings]. “I had a feeling that we would see some significant increases this year. But 30-40% was something of a surprise.” Bosses won in every area, with dramatic increases in pensions, payoffs and perks – as well as salary.

(Sarcastic headline rewrite via Counterparties)

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NPR: “Unpaid Bills Land Some Debtors Behind Bars”

Walter Riepen, a Michigan resident, was sentenced to 30 days in jail [for unpaid debts]. After his release, he was billed $1,260 — the cost of his incarceration at a rate of $60 a day. Since his only income is a monthly Social Security disability payment, Riepen cannot pay back the amount, and the ACLU reports that he still lives under the threat of being sent back to prison for his unpaid legal financial obligations.

Mike Konczal: “How Credit Collectors Have Reinvented the Debtors’ Prison”

Requirements to appear in court are being overused and abused as a way of confusing debtors and forcing a strong hand on payments. This ultimately threatens the integrity of the entire debt collection system and the crucial protection of freedom and liberty.

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Ezra Klein: “Debt isn’t immoral”

The basic problem with Washington’s conversation over debt is we’ve taken a fiscal tool and recast it as a moral sin. Head over to Mitt Romney’s website and look at what it says across the top: “We have a moral responsibility not to spend more than we take in.” Really? Why? And over what time frame?

If you pressed Romney on this, I think he would say something like, “it’s irresponsible to pass a massive load of debt onto our children.” But as good as that sounds, no one really believes it. World War II left America with one of the highest debt burdens in the country’s history. But it would have been much more irresponsible to pass on a world in which the Nazis controlled Europe to our children.

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The 99% Act: in one infographic.

Vox Nova: “Rick Santorum thinks pope is socialist/Marxist”

Scott Keyes: “Predatory Payday Lenders Compare Themselves to MLK and Civil Rights Marchers in Fight Against Regulations”

Ron Paul investing against the apocalypse: “This portfolio is a half-step away from a cellar-full of canned goods and 9-millimeter rounds.”

“We are not on a Great Vacation.”

Jeff Madrick: “The 10 Worst Economic Ideas of 2011”

Steve Roth makes the case for Jubilee: “It’s the Private Debt, Stupid.”

Matt Stoller: “Treat foreclosure as a crime scene”

CBO: The U.S. Federal Budget in one graphic

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Time magazine, Nov. 24, 2010, Maia Szalavitz: “The Rich Are Different: More Money, Less Empathy”

Looking for empathy and support? You’re more likely to get it from a poor person than you are from a rich one, according to new research published in Psychological Science.

Time magazine, Dec. 21, 2011, Jeffrey Kluger: “Got Money? Then You Might Lack Compassion”