Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The Post-1990s Federal Reserve: Enemy Of The Middle Class

Seth Mason Charleston SC blog 6One need not delve into hardcore economic research to reach the conclusion that the Fed is largely responsible for our country's economic woes. One need only have common sense and possess the ability to read charts.

In the mid-1990s, Alan Greenspan's Fed began our central bank's tradition of pumping massive amounts of liquidity. Since that time, stocks and other assets typically held in large quantities by the wealthy have done--for the most part--very well. But, for middle class Americans, who rely on "breadwinner" jobs for their livelihoods, the past 15 or so years have been a period of economic decline, the past 6 years a period of economic free-fall.

Since peaking at around 67.5% in the late 1990s, the labor force participation rate has declined to 63%, the lowest level since the 1970s, when households rarely sent more than one member into the workforce. The S&P 500, on the other hand, has more than doubled:

The Post-1990s Fed: Enemy Of The Middle Class - Labor Force Participation vs. Stocks

Corporate profits and labor force participation also decoupled in the late 1990s. Today, there is little correlation between the two:

The Post-1990s Fed: Enemy Of The Middle Class - Labor Force Participation vs. Corporate Profits


What's more, part-time jobs have been replacing full-time jobs since the Fed's tech bubble:

The Post-1990s Fed: Enemy Of The Middle Class - Part Time vs. Full Time Jobs


And, since the late 1990s, real wages (adjusted for inflation) have been in decline:

The Post-1990s Fed: Enemy Of The Middle Class - Annual Change In Real Wages

Monday, March 3, 2014

Capricious Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Hurting America's Future

Seth Mason Charleston SC blog 7Mandatory minimum sentencing, sentencing requirements imposed by state legislatures and the Legislative Branch of the federal government, is a clear violation of the principle of "separation of powers" that strips judges of their fundamental duty of administering justice considering the circumstances surrounding the cases they oversee. Mandatory minimum sentencing is infamous for being unfair to minorities, but it also harms a disproportionate number of young people of all races. Each year, tens of thousands of young Americans are imprisoned and tens of thousands more lose their student aid eligibility due to capricious mandatory minimum sentences, mostly for minor drug offenses.

Mandatory minimum sentences ruin the educational and economic opportunities of young Americans in a number of outrageous ways. Consider the following tragic stories:
Truly tragic. Fortunately, Alex Kreit, Associate Professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, is providing a free web-based program to equip participants with the knowledge and the tools they need to help end the injustice of mandatory minimum sentencing. You can find out more about Professor Kreit's program, part of the Learn Liberty Academy at The Institute for Humane Studies, by visiting the program's registration page.

Empowered by the education Professor Kreit provides, you can then work with organizations such as Families Against Mandatory Minimums and Students for Sensible Drug Policy to help end mandatory minimum sentencing.

Seth Mason, Charleston SC