Daily Clips: February 19th, 2016
How student debt impacts Americans: According to census data, “African-American and Latino families have the lowest median incomes in the United States.” These lower-income families with smaller debts “have difficulty paying back the loans,” whereas higher-income families have higher debt because “people in high-income areas are more likely to go to more expensive schools and pursue graduate degrees.”
Krugman’s variety of voodoo economics:
By endorsing outlandish economic claims, the Sanders campaign is basically signaling that it doesn’t believe its program can be sold on the merits, that it has to invoke a growth miracle to minimize the downsides of its vision. It is, in effect, confirming its critics’ worst suspicions.
Oregon just passed the highest state minimum wage in the country:
It is also the first ever statewide minimum wage system that will be tiered, with different wage levels for different regions. Over the next six years, Oregon’s already high minimum of $9.25 per hour (only eight states and Washington, D.C., have equal or higher minimums right now, according to EPI’s minimum wage tracker) will “jump to $14.75 in metro Portland, $13.50 in smaller cities such as Salem and Eugene, and $12.50 in rural communities by 2022,” according to the Guardian. This will reportedly result in raises for more than 100,000 workers.
Tweet of the day:
If you were to squeeze all of the decency and good intentions out of Richard Nixon all that would remain would be @tedcruz.
— John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) February 19, 2016
