In apress releasefrom theNational Conference On Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) dated December 19, 2016, theCalifornia Policy Center, and its spinoff online publication,UnionWatch, were bothchosen, for the 2nd year in a row, as one of only 28 “policy and research organizations” that NCPERS has deemed to be “Think Tanks that Undercut Pensions.” Ponder the significance of this excerpt from that same press release: “Under the Code of Conduct,NCPERS urges its corporate members to disclose whether they contribute to these organizations.”

What exactly were the transgressions of the California Policy Center, and UnionWatch, that earned them a place onthis list of undesirables? That earned them an admonition from NCPERS to its corporate members to boycott us, or else? Here is their list of criteria – and, briefly, our response:

How… Read More

“The creation of the mortgage bond market, a decade earlier, had extended Wall Street into a place it had never before been: the debts of ordinary Americans.” – Jared Vennett (played by Ryan Gosling), The Big Short (2015)

Along with anothersuperblyauthentic movie Margin Call(2011), The Big Shortprovides a vivid look into the rigged, Darwinian, ruthlessly exploitative circus popularly known as “Wall Street.” For decades, ever since the greatdepression, this industry slumbered along, sedatelyproviding financial services to Americans. As always, it alsowas a venue for legalized gambling, but the number of players were limited, the winnings were relatively meager, and the opportunities for corrupt manipulations had not yet been multiplied by new trading technologies. Back then, the seedier aspects of Wall Street were overshadowed by the many vitalservices the industry provided. All of that changed starting around 1980.

In 1985, the financial sector earned less than 16% of… Read More