You might have been able to blame labor unions for the economic problems of the 1970's, but capital has been ascendant everywhere since the 1980's. Power has become increasingly concentrated in the hands of the rich, and now there's only one part of society to blame for the economic crisis.
Yes, the UAW plays a role in the problems of the US auto industry. The financial services industry, which is at the epicenter of the current crisis, is not unionized. You can't blame unions for AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bank Of America, Merrill Lynch, CDOs or the housing bubble.
I'm sick and tired of the "Atlas Shrugged" fantasies that many people have. Most billionaires are billionaires because they own large blocks of stocks in public companies. These are worth billions because:
(i) People buy their stock in the (false) hope that they will grow in value faster than the GDP and finance a comfortable retirement ()
(ii) There's a large population of people who have money to spend on goods and services. Mass prosperity is the trunk of the tree that holds the rich up.
(iii) People do work in their companies that creates a stream of revenue.
I'm no communist.
Capitalists play an important role in deciding where resources can be profitably used. The root of the financial crisis is that the financial system is no longer capable of performing this crucial role.
Capital and labor need to be in balance. The growth of capital's power over the past 30 years has destroyed the social infrastructure that it needs to create wealth: thus we've got a deflationary process that is making wealth disappear..
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() The stock market finances retirement on a pay-as-you-go basis, just as does social security. The number of dollars spent buying stocks has to equal the number of dollars made selling stocks. It's simple math.
The average return on investment across the economy equals the rate of growth of GDP in the long term: where can you get the returns from? from changing the way that wealth is partitioned in the economy. Some inequality of wealth creates an incentive for people to work and invest -- but the game ends when all of the money is in one person's pocket, just as it does in the game of monopoly.
We've managed to fool ourselves in the last decade by (i) taking on unsustainable debts, and (ii) stealing from ourselves as workers in the name of (imaginary) returns that we thought we'd benefit from when we're retired. Trouble is, the jig is up,
You might have been able to blame labor unions for the economic problems of the 1970's, but capital has been ascendant everywhere since the 1980's. Power has become increasingly concentrated in the hands of the rich, and now there's only one part of society to blame for the economic crisis.
Yes, the UAW plays a role in the problems of the US auto industry. The financial services industry, which is at the epicenter of the current crisis, is not unionized. You can't blame unions for AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bank Of America, Merrill Lynch, CDOs or the housing bubble.
I'm sick and tired of the "Atlas Shrugged" fantasies that many people have. Most billionaires are billionaires because they own large blocks of stocks in public companies. These are worth billions because:
(i) People buy their stock in the (false) hope that they will grow in value faster than the GDP and finance a comfortable retirement () (ii) There's a large population of people who have money to spend on goods and services. Mass prosperity is the trunk of the tree that holds the rich up. (iii) People do work in their companies that creates a stream of revenue.
I'm no communist.
Capitalists play an important role in deciding where resources can be profitably used. The root of the financial crisis is that the financial system is no longer capable of performing this crucial role.
Capital and labor need to be in balance. The growth of capital's power over the past 30 years has destroyed the social infrastructure that it needs to create wealth: thus we've got a deflationary process that is making wealth disappear..
---
() The stock market finances retirement on a pay-as-you-go basis, just as does social security. The number of dollars spent buying stocks has to equal the number of dollars made selling stocks. It's simple math.
The average return on investment across the economy equals the rate of growth of GDP in the long term: where can you get the returns from? from changing the way that wealth is partitioned in the economy. Some inequality of wealth creates an incentive for people to work and invest -- but the game ends when all of the money is in one person's pocket, just as it does in the game of monopoly.
We've managed to fool ourselves in the last decade by (i) taking on unsustainable debts, and (ii) stealing from ourselves as workers in the name of (imaginary) returns that we thought we'd benefit from when we're retired. Trouble is, the jig is up,