Dean Baker
The New York Times, November 25, 2013

Dean Baker
Truthout, November 25, 2013

Dean Baker
The Guardian, November 25, 2013

Alexander MainLos Angeles Times, November 24, 2013

Monday November 25

8:30 P.M. EST: The National Lawyers Guild International Committee has released the following statement:

The National Lawyers Guild, with a delegation of 17 members who observed Sunday's elections in Honduras, will be issuing a press statement tomorrow.   In advance of that statement, the NLG International Committee wants to alert our members and other interested parties that US media and government reports of a free, fair and transparent election in Honduras are premature and inappropriate.  Such unsupported claims will only exacerbate tensions in a country that recently suffered a coup, followed by massive attacks on human rights defenders, opposition party candidates and activists that continue to this moment.  

Honduras has a flawed electoral system with many deficiencies including control of the process by political parties, unregulated and undisclosed campaign financing, and inadequate resources, training and voting facilities that disadvantage poor communities.  In addition Honduran electoral law provides for no run-off election. Without a runoff election in which a majority of voters choose leadership, the electoral aspirations of two-thirds of Honduran voters who voted for change, are frustrated, and the winner of a mere plurality is denied a real mandate.

The NLG will issue a press statement tomorrow to be followed by the delegation’s comprehensive report.

 

6:56 P.M. EST: Although the TSE has yet to announce the final results of the election, current Honduran president Porfirio Lobo has congratulated Juan Orlando Hernández on his election, reports La Prensa.

6:30 P.M. EST: The TSE continues to update their website with partial results, however a few discrepancies have emerged. The main page of the TSE website shows 61.77 percent of voting tables as having been counted, however on the results by department page, the TSE reports 57.99 percent of voting tables as having been counted. On the main page, the TSE reports a total of 15,147 voting tables while on the results by department page, the TSE reports a total of 16,135 voting tables.

The results by department page, which includes both null and blank votes, shows a total of 2,009,101 votes as having been processed. However if one adds up all the votes for each candidate as well as null and blank votes, the total is 1,928,450, a discrepancy of over 80,000 votes.

The TSE has yet to make any formal announcement today with updated results, but check the TSE website periodically for updates.

The following labor market policy research reports were recently released:  

Earlier this week, the Economic Policy Institute and CEPR released a paper (pdf) by Larry Mishel, Heidi Shierholz (both of EPI) and me, which argues that the evidence in favor of the view that technology is causing economic inequality is weak. The paper c

This should have been the title of the Washington Post story earlier this week on Paul Ryan. The story says that Paul Ryan has sought the help of Bob Woodson to “gather community leaders for an event next year, and to help him compare the results of their

November 2013, David Rosnick and Mark Weisbrot

Jared Bernstein and Dean Baker
Economix (The New York Times), November 20, 2013

November 2013, Lawrence Mishel, Heidi Shierholz, and John Schmitt

In this Sunday’s NYT, Nick Kristof calls readers to the barricades to fight against proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). As he puts it, “slashing food stamp benefits—overwhelmingly for children, the disabled and the eld