At one time it was an economic tenet for America's worker: Work smarter, better, faster and harder and you’ll reap the rewards. That’s exactly what America's workers have done for the past four decades plus. But while worker productivity has soared, workers’ wages have been tightly tethered to the ground. So much that economist Dean Baker writes:

If the minimum wage had risen in step with productivity growth [since 1968], it would be over $16.50 an hour today. That is higher than the hourly wages earned by 40 percent of men and half of women. 

Signing more trade deals (also known as FTAs) as a way to create jobs? Meh. Seems unlikely, unless there is a radical change to the current trade model. The current model does much more than reduce tariffs (tariffs are taxes on imports). It also puts in place a bunch of rules that have made it advantageous for employers to move jobs offshore—resulting in unemployment, wage suppression and reduced union bargaining power. 

The announcement of the proposed merger between American Airlines—now in bankruptcy proceedings—and US Airways has drawn mixed reactions from the AFL-CIO unions, which represent workers at both airlines.

Last Monday, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen gave the keynote speech at an AFL-CIO economic policy conference on restoring shared prosperity. 

Yellen began by noting that the Federal Reserve “is the only agency assigned the job of pursuing maximum employment.” 

While media pundits raise faux concern every time the Social Security trustees release their annual report, falsely declaring the program is in dire trouble—even though the future modest funding shortfall can easily be fixed by scrapping the cap—it's important we take a look at a major factor in Social Security's finances: rich people. 

Today at the Trans-Atlantic Agenda for Shared Prosperity conference held at the AFL-CIO, Janet Yellen, vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, talked about the reasons why the recent economic downturn has been painful particularly for America's workers and what the Federal Reserve's role is in reaching maximum employment.The problem with the economy is the lack of demand and current fiscal policy is not helping. Yellen said the Federal Reserve is committed to action that will create jobs and produce economic growth. 

In 2008, with the global financial crisis at its peak and the world teetering on the brink of a second Great Depression, world leaders and policymakers took decisive fiscal and monetary policy actions that bolstered our economies and stopped our financial system from spiraling into chaos and dragging our economies into depression.

But today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told the “Trans-Atlantic Agenda for Shared Prosperity” economic summit: 

Our work is far from done, and no progress has been easy. We have had to battle those who wanted to block the fiscal stimulus, which was so critical for halting our economic slide. And we are still battling those same opponents who now want to impose strict fiscal austerity that threatens to sabotage our economy and trigger a new recession, as those same policies have in Europe.

If the United States implemented trade policies to end currency manipulation—especially by China—not only would that reduce the U.S. trade deficit by $190 billion to $400 billion over three years, it would be a major first step in reviving the nation’s manufacturing sector and creating up to 4.7 million jobs, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).  

Here is an idea the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor needs to consider if he wants Republicans to stand up for the struggling American worker: Raise the minimum wage. The American Conservative published an intriguing piece by Ron Unz back in November advocating a minimum wage of $12. Cantor would be helped by reading it. In the article, Unz lays out why conservatives should favor such a move. Unz includes many arguments normally associated with “liberal” pundits about the direction of the American labor market and the type of jobs being created during this century—mostly low wage. And, he accurately argues why raising the minimum wage would not really effect America’s global competitiveness. He even points out how WalMart lobbied for the most recent increase of the federal minimum wage back in 2005 because it would boost the earnings of its customer base.

We’ve said it for years. Because of the “Union Difference”—fair wages and better benefits for workers who belong to a union—unions are the ticket to the middle class. Even if you don’t belong to a union, there is a spillover effect to the whole economy. In other words, when unions are strong, everyone benefits. But don’t take our word for it, here’s what Time magazine contributor Eric Liu says:

The fact is that when unions are stronger the economy as a whole does better.