Britain Goes on Strike for No Reason, Secretary of Treasury May Quit Administration Economic Brain Trust Group. . .

And Other News That Needs Comments

In Britain a huge number of public service employees went on strike in order to protest the

the government’s proposal to change their pension plans. Public pensions currently cost Britain nearly $50 billion a year, and the government says that with an aging population, the current pension arrangement is unsustainable.

As a result, it has proposed raising the working age to 66 by 2020, increasing the monthly amount that public-sector employees are required to contribute toward their pensions and changing the way pensions are calculated. Under the current system, pensions are based on workers’ final salaries; the new plan would base them instead on an average career salary.

In other words, a pension system that is similar to the U.S. system of Social Security.  Furthermore, Britain has a Parliamentarian form of government where the majority party, or in this case a coalition, controls both the executive (Prime Minister) and legislature.  Britain, what exactly did you expect when you elected a Conservative government?

Reports are out that Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner may quit after the deficit and debt ceiling issue is settled. 

If Mr. Geithner does exit later this year, he would be the last member of Mr. Obama’s economic brain trust to leave the administration, after two-and-a-half years of turmoil, 

That “economic brain trust” referred to does not seem to be an economic brain that should have ever been trusted.  If Mr. Geithner does leave,  the current economic brain trust of the Administration would not have diminished brains or trust.

Republicans blocked the start of Senate consideration of new trade agreements.  As reported earlier by The Dismal Political Economist this was due to their opposition to helping workers whose employment would be ended by the Agreements. Exactly how their actions would help create jobs or help the economy was not mentioned by the Republicans , but they did say it was a shame that Democrats were putting the welfare of working men and women ahead of increased profits for business.

There is a new candidate in the Republican race to find a nominee to face Mr. Obama.  The report is that Michigan House member

Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich. will launch his presidential campaign on July 2.

Mr. McCotter attempted to enter the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll under the guise of Anonymous, (really, he did) apparently thinking that recognition for Anonymous was higher than recognition of McCotter.

This quote from an article in the British Newspaper Independent

Link between climate change and recent extreme weather events can no longer be ignored, say top scientists.

Conservatives immediately responded by saying that the report was not true.  They said we can ignore it, we will ignore it and nothing can make us not ignore it.