Erik Hare

Erik Hare is an Economics and Business columnist for MintPress. Hare is author of "The Long View", which focuses on decades long trends that influence our economic lives. Hare is also a freelance writer and world renown blogger at Barataria. His work has appeared in Salon, the Star-Tribune, St Paul Pioneer Press, many other publications. Hare also holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon, and holds 9 US patents.

Stadium Frenzy Ignores Economics

As the economy bounces back from recession, so is stadium construction in the U.S. The structures cost more than a pretty penny, but few seem concerned about economics.

The roar of the crowd is electrifying and the bubbling solidarity of the fans cheering on their team swells an intoxicating civic pride. The emotional arguments for professional sports are strong, of course, but is there a solid economic case for building sports facilities? The short answer to that question is: rarely. In fact, most cities have

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The Case for Optimism

The economy is improving, but very slowly. There are reasons for optimism in 2014 as things are picking up, but this is nothing like a typical postwar “recovery”.

News about the the economy has been mostly positive lately. The official Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report showed an impressive gain of 288,000 in April, an annual rate of 3.4 million if it were to continue. The headline unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, and the more comprehensive U6 measure of unemployment fell to 12.3%, its lowest level since

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The Underground Economy

Despite new ways of paying for things, cash isn’t going away. It has an important place in today’s economy, particularly the most dynamic part of it – unreported income that makes up an underground economy.

No matter how hard times get, people have to make a living. As regular nine-to-five jobs become more difficult to find people turn to making money where they can – and a lot of it is in cash. “We have seen the rise of a new generation of people who are much more used to doing things in a freelance way,” says Sudhir Venkatesh, a sociologist at

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The Death Of Inflation

There are at least two good reasons why inflation remains well below targets even as the economy is improving and despite years of economic stimulus.

Since 2008, the Federal Reserve has more or less printed over $3.2 trillion in three rounds of quantitative easing. That’s now tapering off to zero, but many have speculated that all this printing must result in inflation simply because it puts more U.S. dollars out there than ever before. A larger supply means the dollar should be worth less,

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Getting Real With Long-Term Investments

Despite an historic bubble and bust cycle, many Americans still believe real estate is the best long-term investment option — but is it?

The classic American dream of homeownership as the core of financial security isn't dead, despite a roller coaster ride through bubble and bust over the last few years. This is reflected in a Gallup poll conducted as part of an ongoing series through the recent financial crises. In March, Gallup asked 1,206 people, “Which of the following do you

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What Is The Real Unemployment Rate?

There’s only one problem with the headline unemployment rate of 6.7 percent: hardly anyone believes it.

What is the real rate? The number most commonly reported is 6.7 percent, down considerably from 2010, but everyone seems to have their own opinion. “The 6.7 percent is probably 21 or 22 percent in real numbers,”Donald Trump reported to the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, citing nothing about how he arrived at that

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Today’s Job Market Exploits Marginal Workers

Is the notable rise in temporary workers a sign of an improving economy or the continuation of a trend toward less security and safety on the job?

A good jobs report for March had the business world buzzing. Thegain of 192,000 jobs was seen as a sign of strength amid indicators that the economy is picking up steam. But28,500 of these new jobs, or 15 percent, were temporary jobs, marking a net gain of 9.6 percent in temporary workers over the same month last year and indicating that temp work

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