Why are you and your fellow workers miserable? Profits!
Wall Street Journal, 5/28–To understand why people are so miserable about the economy, look no further than Thursday’s report on gross domestic product. Not how much GDP grew, but how it was divvied up. Worker compensation—wages and benefits—grew 0.8% in the first quarter from the fourth, while domestic corporate profits jumped 2.7%. As a result, labor’s share of gross domestic income (conceptually similar to GDP) sank to 51%, the lowest since records began in 1947. Profits’ share climbed to 12.1%, the highest since 1950…Adjusted for inflation, hourly wages are up 3% since the end of 2019 while profits are up 50%...
Oil supplies are crashing, but optimism is high among traders
Oilprice.com, 6/10–In yet another sign that the paper oil market may be too complacent about the magnitude of the supply disruption in the Middle East, traders have been boosting their short positions in oil futures for most of the past two months. The paper market plays on hopes, expectations, sentiments, and fears, and the sum of all these right now appears to be that the hedge fund and portfolio manager community is reluctant to bet on a summer of actual physical supply shortages. But the paper market may soon face the reality of crumbling global inventories, including in the United States, where stocks at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI Crude, are just a few weeks away from dropping to minimum operational levels…
Wars, wars, and more wars as imperialist powers fight for control
Peace Research Institute Oslo, 6/8– …eight interstate conflicts in 2025 – twice as many as the previous year and the highest number recorded since 1946…a staggering 245,000 people were killed in battle-related violence in 2025, making it the third deadliest year since 1989. The number of battle deaths increased from 188,000 in 2024. The sharp increase was driven primarily by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war in Gaza and escalating violence in Sudan, including the siege and massacre of El-Fasher City. In total, 65 state-based conflicts were recorded across 35 countries in 2025 – also the highest number since records began in 1946.
NYC Police Commissioner shows City Council who’s in charge — it’s not Mamdani
HellgateNYC, 6/1–Mamdani’s initial budget had held the NYPD’s headcount roughly flat. Tisch said Monday he’s actually hiring 580 new officers this year. And on Mamdani’s signature criminal justice reform initiative—the Office of Community Safety that he created earlier this year—Tisch basically said she hasn’t had any discussions about how the new office will affect the NYPD’s responsibilities—and that to her knowledge, it won’t.
Iran seems stronger so far, coming out of war
New York Times, 6/13–The United States and Israel went to war in Iran seeking regime change. Nearly four months later, there has been regime change, but not the kind they wanted. The Islamic Republic 3.0, as some call it, is now less a theocracy and more a military junta dominated by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Washington and Jerusalem also went to war to eradicate Iran’s nuclear program and end the threat it poses. So far, this conflict has only produced a wounded Iran more willing to take risks and more likely to persist in its goal of advancing its nuclear program…Iran is now led by “a younger, more brazen generation in power” …
Antiracists show up in force to counter anti-immigrant rioters
Al Jazeera, 6/13–Thousands of people in Northern Ireland have rallied against anti-immigrant violence provoked by a stabbing in the capital Belfast. Protesters on Saturday gathered outside Belfast City Hall with placards sporting slogans such as “Hate is the only threat to our streets” and “Belfast stands against racism.” An anti-racism rally was also held at Londonderry – widely known as Derry – city hall, reported the Belfast Telegraph…“Everybody’s here just to show that those people [anti-immigrant rioters] … causing all the problems aren’t speaking for us,”… Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said on Thursday that the rioting had created a sense of fear with some being “intimidated” and “burned out of their houses by masked thugs on the basis of the colour of their skin”.
