WASHINGTON — Despite two weeks' worth of heated political conventions and concerted efforts on both sides to denounce the respective platforms pushed by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the two political combatants appear to share at least one issue in common: an opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Convincing voters of said position could prove to be more difficult for Clinton, however: in November 2012 it was the former secretary of state who described the deal as "the gold standard in trade agreements."
STATE HOUSE — The Bay State's Republican governor on Monday signed legislation aimed at shrinking the so-called "gender wage gap," a statistical disparity that activists claim is the product of sexism in the workplace but that free market proponents claim is the result of differences in individual backgrounds and free choice.
Although pay discrimination has been illegal in Massachusetts since the mid-20th century, on average Bay State women today earn only 82 cents for every $1 paid to men. June O'Neill of the American Enterprise Institute says such numbers don't tell the whole story because they compare women and men across professions and do not account for career choices, productivity, or hours worked. When the wages of female employees are compared to those of similarly situated men performing the same job, O'Neill says, the wage gap essentially disappears.
