On The Economic Populist you might have noticed the middle column. We try to list other sites and blogs who have exceptional insight and writing on what is happening in the U.S. economy.

Sometimes though, one cannot say it better but miss those who did.

Must Read #1

Paul Krugman busts a serious myth that free flows of capital are successful in Finance mythbusting, third world edition.

Must Read #2

Yves Smith asks Do Businesses Hate Their Workers?

In America, it isn’t hard to answer the question in the headline “yes.” The oft recited, “Our employees are our greatest asset” is pure Orwellian prattle; most companies treat employees as liabilities, doing everything they can to minimize labor costs, getting rid of workers whenever possible.

(one might note the productivity and labor costs report for Q3, 2009)

Must Read #3

Obama says he will mention the Chinese currency manipulation in his week long trip to China. Of course he won't call it manipulation. Note, earlier the Obama administration abandoned all attempts to deal with China and their manipulations of currency. For background on just how much this affects U.S. trade deficit with China, read China Trade Deficit and the Exchange Rate.

Must Read #4

Rep. Dennis Kucinich voted no on the House Health Care Bill. in this piece, he explains why.

Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick.

But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies—a bailout under a blue cross.