Archive for the ‘politics’ Category
The Job Creation Myth
Today in Washington, there are two competing theories for how to gin up the economy and boost the employment rate:
1. Cut taxes for the rich and for businesses (see: Republican Party)
2. Use government spending as a stimulus (see: Democratic Party)
Let’s take a look at #1. The logic goes as follows: If I’m a business owner and my tax bill goes down, I will have more money to hire employees and will thusly create jobs.
There’s just one problem: in today’s economic reality, it’s pure fantasy. To illustrate why, consider a quote from a visionary businessman, Henry Ford.
“It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.”
Therein lies the rub. Businesses have shed jobs and are not hiring because demand is much lower. Regardless of how much or how little they pay in taxes, there is no incentive to hire any more employees than required to meet demand. Ford understood this, which is why he focused on reducing prices while simultaneously paying his workers higher than the prevailing wage–by increasing the number of potential customers (many of whom were also employees) he could grow the business.
This is the theory behind government spending, unemployment benefits, and tax cuts for the poor and middle class. Only by increasing demand can we expect to increase employment and grow the economy. Cutting taxes for the richest 2% is beyond foolish–it’s reckless.
Filed under economics, politics : Comments (0) : Aug 14th, 2010
In the wake of BP destroying the Gulf of Mexico. . .
. . . this is particularly relevant:
Filed under politics : Comments (2) : May 30th, 2010
A historical reminder
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.
Here’s a video from 1947 produced by the Defense Department warning Americans about the dangers of false leaders. Jump to 2:15 and see if you can relate it to any of the loud voices in contemporary times.
Excerpt:
“Now friends, I’m just an average American. But I’m an American American. . . and I ask you, if we allow these things to go along, what’s going to become of us Real Americans?”
Filed under culture, politics : Comments (0) : May 26th, 2010
Deregulation : A smashing success!
After a few decades of fervent deregulation, our economy has never been stronger! Our air is clean, our waters safe, and the worker has extremely safe working conditions.
Right?
Now can we please agree that regulation is NOT Socialism? Rather, smart regulation actually enforces the level playing field upon which free markets thrive.
Filed under politics : Comments (0) : May 14th, 2010
We might have a problem
I came across a rather startling bit of data the other day: the top 10 prescription drugs in the U.S.
I had a hunch that our collective psyche wasn’t all smiles, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. 10 out of the top 10 are used to treat either depression or anxiety (or both). And looking at the total number of each prescription used, a shocking high percentage of Americans must be on one or more of these drugs. Ladies and gentlemen, we are not well.
What could be causing such a widespread incidence of these mental diseases? Without bothering to actually read any of the medical/scientific literature, I have a few guesses:
The American Dream is dying. There was a time not so long ago when some honest hard work and perseverance was a ticket to the comfortable middle class. For most of us, that’s just not true anymore. We’ve watched as real wages hit a plateau in the 1980s and haven’t increased much since. We just lived through a catastrophic real estate boom & bust that cut us twice: first the middle class watched their single largest investment lose half its value, then we were forced to bail out the big banks that exacerbated the crash with our tax dollars. Ouch. Now we’re on the verge of the Baby Boomers retiring and all we hear from Washington is that Social Security is broke, Medicare is broke, and our debt is going to crush our economy. Not a good time for the dreamers.
We’re surrounded by hucksters, fraudsters, charlatans, swindlers, and flimflammers. Big business can’t be trusted. The “health care” industry is screwing us. Politicians are slimier than ever. The financial seems to be robbing us blind while securing billions for themselves. Even the legal community is looking less-than-trustworthy with increasingly politicized judicial appointments, elections, and decisions. Legitimate journalism is dead. The Catholic Church can’t be trusted with children. And government regulators are failing their basic mission while we pay the price. The very fabric of our civil society seems to be tearing at the seams–no wonder we’re all depressed and anxious.
Our role as a super-power may not last. We helped the Allies win WWI and WWII. We beat back the spread of Soviet Communism in the Cold War. And we’ve spent the last few decades since serving as peacemakers for the world. But now we’re engaged in two intractable wars in a part of the world that isn’t fond of Western influence. We’re trading barbs with two armed-and-unstable regimes. Our efforts at building peace in Israel/Palestine have all but failed. At the same time, China has increased both its wealth, stability, and influence in the world. Our long-standing allies in Europe and the UK have cooled somewhat. And our public display of political tomfoolery has drawn international mockery. We’re still the #1 world super power today, but how long can it last?
We’re trashing our planet and can’t find the will to stop. Whether it’s the long-term impact of global climate change or the immediate and visceral display of environmental ruin in the Gulf of Mexico, we’re failing spectacularly at our role of environmental steward. What’s worse is that we know exactly what the problems are but can’t find the will to change our ways. For previous generations, environmental disasters came in large part due to ignorance. As the environmental movement came alive in the 1970s, we made dramatic and real improvements in the way we treated our waterways, our atmosphere, and wildlife. Since then, we’ve continued to learn more about the dangers of unchecked CO2 emissions but we’ve done virtually nothing to change the equation. Worse, our (untrustworthy) business, political, and journalism communities have gone to great lengths to confuse and obfuscate the truth.
It’s enough to make you feel downright depressed.
Filed under climate change, culture, politics : Comments (4) : May 8th, 2010
