America's economy is unsustainable, but fixable.

[the other mike]

The biggest economic story of our times isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about institutions and politics. It’s about power.

The median annual earnings of full-time wage and salaried workers in 1979, in today’s dollars, was $43,680. The median earnings in 2018 was $45,708. If from 1979 to 2018, the American economy almost tripled in size, so where did the gains go? Most went to the top.

Now this is broadly known, but there is less certainty about why.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/robert-reich-americas-economy-is-unsustainable/

Here's an excerpt from the article.
.....American capitalism contained hidden pools of what he called “countervailing power” that offset the power of large corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy: labor unions, state and local banks, farm cooperatives, and small retail chains, for example. All of these sources of countervailing power had been fostered by the New Deal. They balanced the American economic system.

But since the late 1970s, these sources of countervailing power have been decimated, leading to an unbalanced system and producing widening economic inequality and stagnating wages. The result has become a vicious cycle in which big money–emanating from big corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy – determine the rules of the economic game, and those rules generate more money at the top.

Consider, for example, the ever-expanding tax cuts or loopholesfor large corporations, the financial sector, and the wealthy. Contrast them with increases in payroll taxes for average workers.

Or look at the bank and corporate bailouts but little or no help for homeowners caught in the downdraft of the Great Recession.

Finally, look at the increasing barriers to labor unions, such as the proliferation of so-called “right-to-work” laws and the simultaneous erosion of antitrust and the emergence of large concentrations of corporate power.

The public knows the game is rigged, which is why almost all the political energy is now anti-establishment. This is a big reason why Trump won the 2016 election. Authoritarian populists through history have used anger and directed it at racial and ethnic minorities and foreigners......

 

[the other mike]

Offering a compelling set of ideas about what should be done with countervailing power.

For example:

— A guaranteed basic income so no one is impoverished,

— A guaranteed job so everyone can get ahead,

— A progressive wealth tax to pay for these and other basics,

— Stronger unions so workers have more bargaining power,

— New forms of corporate organization so workers have more voice,

– A Green New Deal so workers can get better jobs while fighting climate change.

— Reinvigorated antitrust so concentrations of economic power are broken up,

— Election finance reforms to get big money out of politics and end the revolving door,

— Voting reforms so votes cannot be suppressed.

 

[BrokeLoser]

The biggest economic story of our times isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about institutions and politics. It’s about power.

The median annual earnings of full-time wage and salaried workers in 1979, in today’s dollars, was $43,680. The median earnings in 2018 was $45,708. If from 1979 to 2018, the American economy almost tripled in size, so where did the gains go? Most went to the top.

Now this is broadly known, but there is less certainty about why.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/robert-reich-americas-economy-is-unsustainable/

Here's an excerpt from the article.
.....American capitalism contained hidden pools of what he called “countervailing power” that offset the power of large corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy: labor unions, state and local banks, farm cooperatives, and small retail chains, for example. All of these sources of countervailing power had been fostered by the New Deal. They balanced the American economic system.

But since the late 1970s, these sources of countervailing power have been decimated, leading to an unbalanced system and producing widening economic inequality and stagnating wages. The result has become a vicious cycle in which big money–emanating from big corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy – determine the rules of the economic game, and those rules generate more money at the top.

Consider, for example, the ever-expanding tax cuts or loopholesfor large corporations, the financial sector, and the wealthy. Contrast them with increases in payroll taxes for average workers.

Or look at the bank and corporate bailouts but little or no help for homeowners caught in the downdraft of the Great Recession.

Finally, look at the increasing barriers to labor unions, such as the proliferation of so-called “right-to-work” laws and the simultaneous erosion of antitrust and the emergence of large concentrations of corporate power.

The public knows the game is rigged, which is why almost all the political energy is now anti-establishment. This is a big reason why Trump won the 2016 election. Authoritarian populists through history have used anger and directed it at racial and ethnic minorities and foreigners......

I just pulled my head from my ass, got an education, worked hard, stayed ambitious and focused on always being and doing better.....And guess what...I have never given two fucks about what anybody else has or what anyone else is earning...weird huh?
I've noticed it always seems to be lowlife, lazy, total pieces of shits who care about what their neighbors have and what they don't have.

 

[the other mike]

I just pulled my head from my ass, got an education, worked hard, stayed ambitious and focused on always being and doing better.....And guess what...I have never given two fucks about what anybody else has or what anyone else is earning...weird huh?
I've noticed it always seems to be lowlife, lazy, total pieces of shits who care about what their neighbors have and what they don't have.

If you choose to ignore the positive intentions of this thread and show your true asshole self to the world, be my guest, Huckleberry. lmao

 

[the other mike]

Building the leadership for this new countervailing power.

You can help lead the way. You can be a leader of this movement. How?

For one, you can run for office – in your community, say, city council or school board. Or run for state office. Or even national office.

Don’t be intimidated by politics. We need good people to run. And don’t worry that you’ll be beholden to a handful of rich donors. These days, smaller donors are more active than ever.

So, what’s the secret? Tell it like it is and be yourself. And then, as I’ve said, talk about economics in terms of political power and understand the 7 principles. Build countervailing power through a multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition. And offer a compelling set of ideas about what can and should be done.

But you don’t need to hold formal office to be a leader.

You can be a leader by organizing and mobilizing people: Your co-workers – to form a union. Your friends and neighbors – to push for better roads and schools, and fairer local taxes. People at your church or synagogue or mosque – to demand better treatment of the poor, the elderly, children, immigrants. You can link your group up with other groups pursuing similar ends, and create a movement. That’s how we got the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. How we got marriage equality. It’s how we get good people elected.

The key to organizing and mobilizing is creating a leadership team, and then reaching out systematically to others, giving them tasks and responsibilities, starting small and gaining a few victories so people can feel their power, and then growing from there.

You’ll need to be patient and steadfast. Keep people together and focused. And be careful not to burn out. Organizing and mobilizing is hard, but once organized and mobilized, there’s no end to what people can accomplish.

You can also be a leader by uncovering critical information, fighting lies, spreading the truth. Core responsibilities of leadership are revealing the facts about widening inequalities of income, wealth, and political power – and uncovering their consequences.

A century ago they were called “muckrakers.” More recently, investigative reporters. I’m talking about courageous journalists who speak truth to power.

But this form of leadership isn’t limited to reporters. It includes whistleblowers, who alert the public to abuses of power. And here courage is also required because when you blow the whistle on the powerful, the powerful sometimes strike back.

This form of leadership also includes researchers, who dig up new sources of data and analyze them in ways that enlighten and motivate.

In other words, there isn’t just one path to leadership. Whether you seek formal authority by running and gaining public office, or you organize and mobilize people into being effective advocates, or you discover and spread the truth – you are creating and developing countervailing power to spread the gains of the economy and strengthen our democracy.

 

[Jackson]

A guaranteed basic income so no one is impoverished,

— A guaranteed job so everyone can get ahead, A job an be given to most everyone in this country. Some are just too damn lazy to get one.

— A progressive wealth tax to pay for these and other basics, A progressive wealth tax should go to the companies for coming back to the US and increasing the wages for workers.

— Stronger unions so workers have more bargaining power, Unions have nearly ruined many jobs, and cities. Union big wigs get the very large salaries and the workers get pittances. Workers will go to the co mpanies that pay a decent wage w/o the help of a union.

— New forms of corporate organization so workers have more voice,

– A Green New Deal so workers can get better jobs while fighting climate change. That is a joke.

— Reinvigorated antitrust so concentrations of economic power are broken up, That would help.

— Election finance reforms to get big money out of politics and end the revolving door,

— Voting reforms so votes cannot be suppressed.

 

[BuckToothMoron]

There are serious issues with the function of the political economics in this country. However there isn’t a singular reason nor solution. Moving more toward a socialist structure(guaranteed jobs, income, free healthcare, etc) is the slow but easy step towards damnation. Mistakes have been made which have compromised the checks and balances of the regulated market. We are much too centralized. Large government and large corporate structures have taken control, and Prohibit a fair and competitive market place. Pay to play politics funded by mega wealthy entities is cancer. And the closer we get towards socialism (free stuff), the higher the barrier becomes between the have and the have nots.

 

[Crepitus]

.I have never given two fucks about what anybody else has or what anyone else is earning...weird huh?

Not wierd at all, you've been well trained.

 

[BrokeLoser]

.I have never given two fucks about what anybody else has or what anyone else is earning...weird huh?

Not wierd at all, you've been well trained.

Explain that...give me the short version

 

[the other mike]

There are serious issues with the function of the political economics in this country. However there isn’t a singular reason nor solution. Moving more toward a socialist structure(guaranteed jobs, income, free healthcare, etc) is the slow but easy step towards damnation. Mistakes have been made which have compromised the checks and balances of the regulated market. We are much too centralized. Large government and large corporate structures have taken control, and Prohibit a fair and competitive market place. Pay to play politics funded by mega wealthy entities is cancer. And the closer we get towards socialism (free stuff), the higher the barrier becomes between the have and the have nots.

Going temporarily socialist is like having a detour while the bridge is being repaired, that's all.
When FDR imposed the 90% marginal tax on the wealthy, it wasn't meant to be permanent. But his overall tax reforms weren't meant to be completely dismantled as they were under Reagan and Clinton.

 

[dblack]

The biggest economic story of our times isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about institutions and politics. It’s about power.

Totally agree. Reich wants more state power. He's very consistent on that.

 

[the other mike]

Quiz Monday morning kids.

 

[the other mike]

The biggest economic story of our times isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about institutions and politics. It’s about power.

Totally agree. Reich wants more state power. He's very consistent on that.

Speaking truth to power.....one of the few.

 

[dblack]

The biggest economic story of our times isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about institutions and politics. It’s about power.

Totally agree. Reich wants more state power. He's very consistent on that.

Speaking truth to power.....one of the few.

LOL - no, he's shilling for power. Always does. He argues for granting government more power over individuals on. every. single. issue.

 

[BrokeLoser]

There are serious issues with the function of the political economics in this country. However there isn’t a singular reason nor solution. Moving more toward a socialist structure(guaranteed jobs, income, free healthcare, etc) is the slow but easy step towards damnation. Mistakes have been made which have compromised the checks and balances of the regulated market. We are much too centralized. Large government and large corporate structures have taken control, and Prohibit a fair and competitive market place. Pay to play politics funded by mega wealthy entities is cancer. And the closer we get towards socialism (free stuff), the higher the barrier becomes between the have and the have nots.

Going temporarily socialist is like having a detour while the bridge is being repaired, that's all.
When FDR imposed the 90% marginal tax on the wealthy, it wasn't meant to be permanent. But it wasn't meant to be completely dismantled as it was under Reagan and Clinton.

The under class has destroyed the middle class...wealthy folks have nothing to do with it. Nearly a third of our population is here illegally and or here by illegal means...most are very low quality human beings. This is a fact. You bottom feeders really need to stop looking to the wealthy to fund your failures. GET A FUCKING JOB...and stop inviting wetbacks over. Simple shit.

 

[Slade3200]

The biggest economic story of our times isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about institutions and politics. It’s about power.

The median annual earnings of full-time wage and salaried workers in 1979, in today’s dollars, was $43,680. The median earnings in 2018 was $45,708. If from 1979 to 2018, the American economy almost tripled in size, so where did the gains go? Most went to the top.

Now this is broadly known, but there is less certainty about why.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/robert-reich-americas-economy-is-unsustainable/

Here's an excerpt from the article.
.....American capitalism contained hidden pools of what he called “countervailing power” that offset the power of large corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy: labor unions, state and local banks, farm cooperatives, and small retail chains, for example. All of these sources of countervailing power had been fostered by the New Deal. They balanced the American economic system.

But since the late 1970s, these sources of countervailing power have been decimated, leading to an unbalanced system and producing widening economic inequality and stagnating wages. The result has become a vicious cycle in which big money–emanating from big corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy – determine the rules of the economic game, and those rules generate more money at the top.

Consider, for example, the ever-expanding tax cuts or loopholesfor large corporations, the financial sector, and the wealthy. Contrast them with increases in payroll taxes for average workers.

Or look at the bank and corporate bailouts but little or no help for homeowners caught in the downdraft of the Great Recession.

Finally, look at the increasing barriers to labor unions, such as the proliferation of so-called “right-to-work” laws and the simultaneous erosion of antitrust and the emergence of large concentrations of corporate power.

The public knows the game is rigged, which is why almost all the political energy is now anti-establishment. This is a big reason why Trump won the 2016 election. Authoritarian populists through history have used anger and directed it at racial and ethnic minorities and foreigners......

I just pulled my head from my ass, got an education, worked hard, stayed ambitious and focused on always being and doing better.....And guess what...I have never given two fucks about what anybody else has or what anyone else is earning...weird huh?
I've noticed it always seems to be lowlife, lazy, total pieces of shits who care about what their neighbors have and what they don't have.

That’s fine and dandy but it doesn’t hurt to analyze our economy on a macro level, does it? Why not try and better understand what’s happening with employment, wages, wealth, government, private production, small business, trade etc.

 

[BrokeLoser]

The biggest economic story of our times isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about institutions and politics. It’s about power.

The median annual earnings of full-time wage and salaried workers in 1979, in today’s dollars, was $43,680. The median earnings in 2018 was $45,708. If from 1979 to 2018, the American economy almost tripled in size, so where did the gains go? Most went to the top.

Now this is broadly known, but there is less certainty about why.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/robert-reich-americas-economy-is-unsustainable/

Here's an excerpt from the article.
.....American capitalism contained hidden pools of what he called “countervailing power” that offset the power of large corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy: labor unions, state and local banks, farm cooperatives, and small retail chains, for example. All of these sources of countervailing power had been fostered by the New Deal. They balanced the American economic system.

But since the late 1970s, these sources of countervailing power have been decimated, leading to an unbalanced system and producing widening economic inequality and stagnating wages. The result has become a vicious cycle in which big money–emanating from big corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy – determine the rules of the economic game, and those rules generate more money at the top.

Consider, for example, the ever-expanding tax cuts or loopholesfor large corporations, the financial sector, and the wealthy. Contrast them with increases in payroll taxes for average workers.

Or look at the bank and corporate bailouts but little or no help for homeowners caught in the downdraft of the Great Recession.

Finally, look at the increasing barriers to labor unions, such as the proliferation of so-called “right-to-work” laws and the simultaneous erosion of antitrust and the emergence of large concentrations of corporate power.

The public knows the game is rigged, which is why almost all the political energy is now anti-establishment. This is a big reason why Trump won the 2016 election. Authoritarian populists through history have used anger and directed it at racial and ethnic minorities and foreigners......

I just pulled my head from my ass, got an education, worked hard, stayed ambitious and focused on always being and doing better.....And guess what...I have never given two fucks about what anybody else has or what anyone else is earning...weird huh?
I've noticed it always seems to be lowlife, lazy, total pieces of shits who care about what their neighbors have and what they don't have.

That’s fine and dandy but it doesn’t hurt to analyze our economy on a macro level, does it? Why not try and better understand what’s happening with employment, wages, wealth, government, private production, small business, trade etc.

Well, I think we both know where this is headed..we've only had this discussion a million times before...lets just cut to the chase and start begging for free shit from our best, most productive citizens...fuck it.

 

[Slade3200]

The biggest economic story of our times isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about institutions and politics. It’s about power.

The median annual earnings of full-time wage and salaried workers in 1979, in today’s dollars, was $43,680. The median earnings in 2018 was $45,708. If from 1979 to 2018, the American economy almost tripled in size, so where did the gains go? Most went to the top.

Now this is broadly known, but there is less certainty about why.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/robert-reich-americas-economy-is-unsustainable/

Here's an excerpt from the article.
.....American capitalism contained hidden pools of what he called “countervailing power” that offset the power of large corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy: labor unions, state and local banks, farm cooperatives, and small retail chains, for example. All of these sources of countervailing power had been fostered by the New Deal. They balanced the American economic system.

But since the late 1970s, these sources of countervailing power have been decimated, leading to an unbalanced system and producing widening economic inequality and stagnating wages. The result has become a vicious cycle in which big money–emanating from big corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy – determine the rules of the economic game, and those rules generate more money at the top.

Consider, for example, the ever-expanding tax cuts or loopholesfor large corporations, the financial sector, and the wealthy. Contrast them with increases in payroll taxes for average workers.

Or look at the bank and corporate bailouts but little or no help for homeowners caught in the downdraft of the Great Recession.

Finally, look at the increasing barriers to labor unions, such as the proliferation of so-called “right-to-work” laws and the simultaneous erosion of antitrust and the emergence of large concentrations of corporate power.

The public knows the game is rigged, which is why almost all the political energy is now anti-establishment. This is a big reason why Trump won the 2016 election. Authoritarian populists through history have used anger and directed it at racial and ethnic minorities and foreigners......

I just pulled my head from my ass, got an education, worked hard, stayed ambitious and focused on always being and doing better.....And guess what...I have never given two fucks about what anybody else has or what anyone else is earning...weird huh?
I've noticed it always seems to be lowlife, lazy, total pieces of shits who care about what their neighbors have and what they don't have.

That’s fine and dandy but it doesn’t hurt to analyze our economy on a macro level, does it? Why not try and better understand what’s happening with employment, wages, wealth, government, private production, small business, trade etc.

Well, I think we both know where this is headed..we've only had this discussion a million times before...lets just cut to the chase and start begging for free shit from our best, most productive citizens...fuck it.

After a million discussions you’d think you’d be able to get somewhere close to showing an understanding of my position. Guess not.

 

[the other mike]

Well, I think we both know where this is headed...

Yep.
President Bernie Sanders

 

[Andylusion]

The biggest economic story of our times isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about institutions and politics. It’s about power.

The median annual earnings of full-time wage and salaried workers in 1979, in today’s dollars, was $43,680. The median earnings in 2018 was $45,708. If from 1979 to 2018, the American economy almost tripled in size, so where did the gains go? Most went to the top.

Now this is broadly known, but there is less certainty about why.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/robert-reich-americas-economy-is-unsustainable/

Here's an excerpt from the article.
.....American capitalism contained hidden pools of what he called “countervailing power” that offset the power of large corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy: labor unions, state and local banks, farm cooperatives, and small retail chains, for example. All of these sources of countervailing power had been fostered by the New Deal. They balanced the American economic system.

But since the late 1970s, these sources of countervailing power have been decimated, leading to an unbalanced system and producing widening economic inequality and stagnating wages. The result has become a vicious cycle in which big money–emanating from big corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy – determine the rules of the economic game, and those rules generate more money at the top.

Consider, for example, the ever-expanding tax cuts or loopholesfor large corporations, the financial sector, and the wealthy. Contrast them with increases in payroll taxes for average workers.

Or look at the bank and corporate bailouts but little or no help for homeowners caught in the downdraft of the Great Recession.

Finally, look at the increasing barriers to labor unions, such as the proliferation of so-called “right-to-work” laws and the simultaneous erosion of antitrust and the emergence of large concentrations of corporate power.

The public knows the game is rigged, which is why almost all the political energy is now anti-establishment. This is a big reason why Trump won the 2016 election. Authoritarian populists through history have used anger and directed it at racial and ethnic minorities and foreigners......

The median annual earnings of full-time wage and salaried workers in 1979, in today’s dollars, was $43,680. The median earnings in 2018 was $45,708. If from 1979 to 2018, the American economy almost tripled in size, so where did the gains go? Most went to the top.​

The standard of living in 1979, was way way way lower than it is today. To say that all the gains in the economy went to the top, when more people than ever own cars, those cars are unbelievably better than cars back then... housing is much better... people have technology like never before.... high speed internet, smart phones, computers, the list goes on and on and on....

To suggest that somehow all the gains from the economy, went to the top, when absolutely everyone is many times better off today, than they were in the late 70s, is ridiculous.

Further, the median annual income is irrelevant to normal people. Normal people do not stay at one income their whole life. In fact, most people travel up through the income brackets from the lowest to the highest, in their life time.

Lastly, median income is largely based on the lowest income bracket. The number at the top is always the fewest people, and the number at the bottom is always the lowest.

You can drastically increase the median income, by simply eliminating low income jobs. Yes, millions of people will be unemployed, but the median income will go up drastically by eliminating fast food joints. It's a stupid number, that can show increasing wages, all while more and more people are unemployed.