Paychecks Lag as Profits Soar, and Prices Erode Wage Gains

ElChupacabra said:

Indeed. The company I used to work for had a CEO who focused on keeping the stock price high and did so through a massive stock buy back. This was great for the stock price, but did little in funding the work which would have made that stock price rise due to the success of the content it created. The short term gains mentality is great for the gamblers, but can really hurt companies and their workers since the immediate fix is to reduce overhead; something that company's been doing for the past few years.

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Bingo.. I think it really stems from the fact that there are more tax advantages from income from capital gains (stock sales from companies held a year).. than their is for earned income. Stock price manipulation is what these CEOS are mostly for.. and since they know its a short term gig.. they need short term compensation.

Cassandra said:

https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf

. Germany, as I pointed out, does a better job than the U.S. of addressing worker training and wages because they structure their boards of directors more democratically and they emphasize training. Investor demand for short term gains is another structural problem that contributes to income disparity. That is certainly true.
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Well.. to be honest it comes down to their education system and their understanding of its importance. Which kind of brings up full circle about what I said about free college that we had in the past. At one time.. public education in this country was free until 6 grade... that was the standard.. so that a person could read, write and do basic math. Then as the economy changed.. public education went to 12 years of school paid for...

Well.. we did for a while also subsidize college as well. Then.. while our competitors. and the economy has changed toward needing more education... for some crazy reason.. we pulled back from public education.. and now say things like "not everyone needs a college degree"...

When the fact is they do need one. And we should be paying for that degree.. just as we went from 6 grade to 12.. to at a point subsidizing college. Why in todays world of automation, and technology.. would we think that we would NOT need people to be more educated to be productive in the work force? Does someone think we are going to go back to digging ditches by hand?

Corporate taxes function differently from income taxes. In theory, the corporation that becomes more profitable (due to lower taxes) can pay employees more. That is what Repubs SAY! It just never works that way. Why would they?

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Actually they really don't. Corporate income tax is just that.. income tax..

The theory that if a corporation becomes more profitable due to lower taxes, they can pay employees more is flawed from the get go. Corporations do not pay money on the income that they use to pay their employees.. thats a tax deduction...

Any income that they are taxed on.. is income they have AFTER they have paid their employees.. not before.

And not all republicans.. any republicans like myself that understand how business works.. understands why that position is wrong.

The LFTR design was strongly supported by Alvin Weinberg, who patented the light-water reactor and was a director of the U.S.'s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In 2016 Nobel prize winning physicist Carlo Rubbia, former Director General of CERN, claimed that one of the main reasons why research was cut is that thorium is difficult to turn into a nuclear weapon

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I am sure that may be a factor.. but in all likelihood. the public does not have the stomach for nuclear power of any type.. and developing an untested and unknown source? Much more difficult to get by the environmental NIMBY's.

phattonez said:

So we should get rid of bankruptcy protection?

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Eh. I'm iffy on that one.
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Who is more at fault? Who has more agency? The drug user, or the drug dealer?

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They both do - and both are responsible for their own decisions. Why do you insist you are not an adult, and can't be trusted to make decisions for yourself?

Further, given that home prices are widely inflated because of money lending, how are people supposed to buy homes without borrowing? They don't have a choice. The system essentially forces them to take out a loan, or rent at inflated rates. There is no escaping it as long as it's legal and prevalent.

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It's mostly true that you generally have to rent or buy with a mortgage, sure. That doesn't require you to buy more house than you can afford, nor does it mean you aren't responsible for the decision if you do.

You seem to think that Christianity condemns the borrower more than the usurer.

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I think the Bible clearly condemns theft and oath-breaking, which is what you were suggesting. If you borrowed at such and such a rate, then you agreed to that - you owe the money, you should pay it back, rather than becoming a liar and a thief. Especially you should do so if you are a Christian, otherwise your actions will further harm the message.

cpwill said:

Eh. I'm iffy on that one.
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They both do - and both are responsible for their own decisions. Why do you insist you are not an adult, and can't be trusted to make decisions for yourself?



It's mostly true that you generally have to rent or buy with a mortgage, sure. That doesn't require you to buy more house than you can afford, nor does it mean you aren't responsible for the decision if you do.



I think the Bible clearly condemns theft and oath-breaking, which is what you were suggesting. If you borrowed at such and such a rate, then you agreed to that - you owe the money, you should pay it back, rather than becoming a liar and a thief. Especially you should do so if you are a Christian, otherwise your actions will further harm the message.

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Find me any verse or quote from any saint saying that those in usurious loans should pay the interest on top of the amount owed.

Sent from my HTC phone. Instaurare omnia in Christo.

Vox said:

The "poor" will get no sympathy while their corpulent bodies are slouched on the couch watching a giant-screen TV and munching French fries and Big Mac's.

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Do you actually KNOW any poor people?

jaeger19 said:

I am sure that may be a factor.. but in all likelihood. the public does not have the stomach for nuclear power of any type.. and developing an untested and unknown source? Much more difficult to get by the environmental NIMBY's.

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That is a bit of reductionism. I lived in the shadow of Seabrook and Plymouth nuclear (same design as Fukishima) . We had some of the highest electrical rates in the country. Where was/is the benefit? Currently, it is true, that nuclear power is political poison because people don't realize that there are much better, safer avenues for clean nuclear. The Repub party denies that anthropogenic climate change is real. Frank Shu (a family friend) is hoping to get NASA funding to develop his design for MARS exploration since he has been unable to get any support in this country for domestic use.

I don't really care what argument is made that wakes people about climate change. For some people it may be species loss , for others it may be job opportunities and energy independence. Everyone should have their hair on fire over this problem or our grandchildren will not inherit a livable planet.
Thread hijacking over!

MTAtech said:

More like 40 years ago. In the prior period, the middle class was growing due to policies that encourages worker organizing, a high marginal tax-rate and a high minimum wage.

Since then, income inequality has risen dramatically. Most people assume that this rise in inequality was the result of impersonal forces, like technological change and globalization. But the great reduction of inequality that created middle-class America between 1935 and 1945 was driven by political change; politics has also played an important role in rising inequality since the 1980s. It’s important to know that no other advanced economy has seen a comparable surge in inequality – even the rising inequality of Thatcherite Britain was a faint echo of trends here.

Because of movement conservative political dominance, taxes on the rich have fallen, and the holes in the safety net have gotten bigger, even as inequality has soared. And the rise of movement conservatism is also at the heart of the bitter partisanship that characterizes politics today.

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wish more could understand what you are.saying. if people.would just do their own research instead of parroting the comentators in right wing media they would see the light.

their media feeds their hatred, bigotry and fear. they believe everything else they are fed.

sad when middle/working class Americans vote against everything in their best interest.

MTAtech said:

Paychecks Lag as Profits Soar, and Prices Erode Wage Gains
Wait. But some will tell you that the GOP tax-cut put more money in worker's pockets.

What we have here is what happens when we elect a plutocrat masquerading as a populist -- he tells you he'll pass policies that help workers, then, when elected, passes policies that help millionaires and billionaires.
His tariffs are hurting Americans and will hurt more in the coming months and years.
His attack on the ACA is driving prices up. Even Tom Price, Trump's former top health official said the Republican tax law would raise the cost of health insurance for some Americans because it repealed a core provision of the Affordable Care Act.

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A fifteen dollar an hour minimum wage on a national basis to help with social costs; what a capital concept, right wingers!

Kobie said:

Do you actually KNOW any poor people?

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I've been one.

Which do people/households really spend more money on washers, dryers, stoves, TVs, or clothes and food, cleaning products, various necessities which are increasing in prices? People are acting as if because the prices of appliances that are meant to last at least 5-10 years (maybe longer if you get one that is good enough) as opposed to things that require constant replacement, have to be figured into the budget at least once or more a year. You cannot compare these things fairly and act as if having the one go up but the other down is valid if one is required to be bought on a regular basis and the other is not.

Vox said:

The "poor" will get no sympathy while their corpulent bodies are slouched on the couch watching a giant-screen TV and munching French fries and Big Mac's.

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always the redirect. the poor the poor the poor

we are not talking about the poor. we are talking about the erosion of the standard of living ofAmerica's middle/working class. What was the backbone of the world's only economic superpower.

anyone who wishes to argue the point that every since Reagan and his trickle down economic theory the middle/working class has been in a downward spiral? Tragic that those who are.most effected by these policies continue to vote for those who are.out to destroy them.