Tag: economy

Thirty Dollars an Hour!

On By southwerkIn business ethics

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/la-passed-30-minimum-wage-085029075.html

Quoted directly from the link above.

Worker organizations, including hospitality union Unite Here Local 11, have been advocating for a citywide ordinance that would raise hospitality workers’ minimum wage to $30 by July 1, 2028, to accommodate rising costs of living as city hotels and airports serve an influx of tourists.

Though industry associations, including the American Hotel & Lodging Association, opposed it — claiming a higher wage could be disastrous for hotel owners and operators in the city — Mayor Karen Bass signed the Citywide Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance, sometimes called the Olympic Wage, into law May 27.

A minimum wage of thirty dollars an hour for many in the United States is unimaginable. And yet, we should be debating what is the right amount and should have been debating it for years. The current national level is seven dollars and twenty-five cents, a huge and incredible subsidy to businesses and corporations across the United States and an hourly insult to the American work force.

In normal times, this subject and ramifications would be the subject of business class discussions, written assignments and eventually published articles. But we don’t live in rational and intelligent times. We live in age of rampant stupidity, incompetence and corruption.

So, these kinds of academic discussion rarely take place. But we should try. The fact that expertise and science are derided and persecuted by the current proto-fascist administration does not mean that we who think and reason will obligingly disappear. I, for one, intend to put up a fight for wisdom, for intelligence and critical thinking. You can join me.

The issue of a thirty dollar minimum wage for hospitality workers is fascinating. The city of Los Angeles is hosting international events and the hotels and similar facilities make enormous profits. The city government thinks this largess should be shared with those doing the work. I find that argument very persuasive. The hotels argue that such a burden would be excessive and (I quote) cause an “economic tsunami”

I want you to understand that the “economic tsunami” line is a bit of attention getter and I might have wondered if they had a case. Except for already enacted twenty dollar minimum wage established for fast food workers. I regularly check on the right wing media portrayal of this act to amuse myself. If you believe their rhetoric, California is now a desert wasteland with ten dollar hamburgers and masses of unemployed wandering the streets in the form of hungry mobs.

Now, in California human beings are making decent salaries and can have good lives with recreation and housing even if they work in fast food and that is wonderful for everyone except the ideological warriors of the internet and the various conservative think tanks and astroturfed organizations they finance.

Anyone interested in trying to get rid of tips or get working Americans decent wages should wade through these hysterical screams of business agony. You’d think business owner were being set upon with hot irons inquisition style instead of facing a requirement to pay living wages. For the wealthy in the United States, the idea that they should pay people what they are worth is anathema.

Nevertheless, I say to business ethics and students that this would be a good class discussion topic and should be explored. There may come a time when we once again think and act intelligently as a nation. (It may take a bit.)

James Alan Pilant

An Economic Wake Up Call (via Here’s What Nancy Thinks)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Income inequality in the developed nations is almost exclusively an American phenomenon. As you can see from the graph, we are more equivalent to African nations with limited economic development in terms of income

Another interesting article is the graph on the origins of our budget problems. Please pay attention to the enormous role played by the Bush tax cuts in destroying revenue.

James Pilant

An Economic Wake Up Call I don't want a "share the wealth" society in the sense that Republicans like to threaten the people with… You have to admit, though, that there used to be a time when money made it to the top, the top would keep a little and spend the rest to grow their business by hiring new people and so forth. When the money trickled down, there was more money to trickle back up. Now, the mighty dollar is harder to come by because the money makes it to the t … Read More

via Here's What Nancy Thinks

Flawed economics (via to boondoggle is human.)

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

This is what I have been saying in many blog posts. We simply cannot keep doing the same economic things over and over again when they have failed over and over again. Some have said that is the very definition of insanity.

It is not ethical or moral to have corporations and the wealthy shed their tax burdens while leaving the average wage earners holding the bag. Those who control large sums of money in this country benefit like everyone else from educational systems, roads and bridges, and the work of police, firemen and our soldiers. Calling yourselves, “job creators” does not place a halo on your head or relieve you of your duty to your country, your state, your community and your fellow citizens.

We need to have a tax code that allocates the taxes paid in relation to the excess wealth accumulated and severely limits the amount paid on the base money necessary for basic needs, like food, shelter, education and medical needs.

I like this blogger’s thinking and I wish him well.

James Pilant

Flawed economics Supply-side Economics (see http://bit.ly/e8cvkl for definition and description), founded by Milton Friedman and made policy by Reagan, has been tested over the past 30 years.  It is working for the top 1%; not so much for the rest of us.  The dawned (indeed, dawned) realization is that the vast majority of ordinary consumers – the massive lower middle- and middle-class – are seeing their wages stagnate.  We are witnessing the impact of wage-stagn … Read More

via to boondoggle is human.

Outcasts: Tonight Tens Of Thousands Of Formerly Middle Class Americans Will Be Sleeping In Their Cars, In Tent Cities Or On The Streets (via Evil of indifference)

On By southwerkIn business ethics2 Comments

The Middle Class is shedding population. People leave for many reasons. But in the last few years, off shoring, foolish trade agreements, corporate financial speculation and a government little concerned with the plight of average wage earners, has parsed the Middle Class without obstacle.

I agree with the blog post below.

James Pilant

“Economic despair is beginning to spread rapidly in America. As you read this, there are millions of American families that are just barely hanging on by their fingernails. For a growing number of Americans, it has become an all-out battle just to be able to afford to sleep under a roof and put a little bit of food on the table. Sadly, there are more people than ever that are losing that battle. Tonight, tens of thousands of formerly middle class … Read More

via Evil of indifference

Greeks Enraged as the Parliament is set to approve Austerity plan (via )

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I believe Greece should default. I would rather live on a planet where investors have to make intelligent investment decisions than one where their investment decisions are protected by United States, the EU, the World Bank and the IMF.

I would love to hear more in the media about Goldman Sachs involvement in this debacle.

For instance, here, here, here, and here.

James Pilant

Greeks Enraged as the Parliament is set to approve Austerity plan Thousands of Greeks arrive at the Parliament’s building to press their representatives to reject the new austerity package. Reuters June 28, 2011 Anti-austerity protests turned violent in Athens on Tuesday as the European Union warned Greek lawmakers the country faces immediate default unless they back an unpopular economic plan this week. Hooded youths throwing stones and wielding sticks set fire to garbage bins and a telecoms truck outside parl … Read More

via

Bankers Order the Looting of Greece (via )

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

I think that this is a highly likely scenario. The practice of American entrepreneurs of exploiting disasters for big bucks has made them experts in extracting the last dime from the crisis victims.

But I have to admit, it was the picture of Snidely Whiplash that got my attention. He is a perfect example of the modern international capitalist – greedy, proud, unashamed, forever on the make, and having a damn good time.

James Pilant

Bankers Order the Looting of Greece According to Max Keiser, people of the kinds of Forbes are already in Greece to get its assets for pennies on the Euro. It is now clear the rest of the countries will come next. That is the plan. Reuters June 18, 2011 A restructuring of Greece's 340 billion euro ($481.5 billion) debt is not on the agenda and would damage the country's credibility on bond markets, the European Union's internal markets commissioner said on Saturday. Forcing Greece' … Read More

via

Friday Links (via A Thinking Reed)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I love those blog entries that list little teasers connected to links. It’s a sort of internet buffet, a little of this and a little of that. This one has some fun teasers and interesting ideas.

James Pilant

–A challenge to libertarians on the coecivene power of private entities. –A.O. Scott on superhero movies as a Ponzi scheme. –Richard Beck of Experimental Theology on why he blogs. –A political typology quiz from the Pew Research Center. (I scored as a “solid libera.l” Although I’d take issue with the way some of the choices were presented.) –An end to “bad guys.” –Def Leppard’s Hysteria and the changing meaning of having a “number 1” album. … Read More

via A Thinking Reed

The Modern Face of Evil (via The Compulsive Explainer)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I’m a big fan of Iniside Job and apparently so is this gentleman. I agree with his remarks. I too believe that the instigators of this calamity were evil, not misguided, not just skirting the edge of legality, but evil.

I hope people like this embrace the concept of evil as a explanation for actions taken for unimaginable greed. This is a difficult time to live in. But one of the reasons we live in difficult times is because it was arranged that way. People were not held accountable for their own actions. Banking institutions did not suffer the results of their mistakes. Thus we have the a country where the free market is cited for every problem and in spite of that a tax supported, profit guaranteed, financial industry with the morals of a rabid dog was protected from it. If you use the mantra of the free market to discourage regulation, you shouldn’t be able to turn around and get taxpayer money.

This is a good post. My thanks to The Compulsive Explainer.

James Pilant

I am watching the movie Inside Job, and I am learning from it. I am watching the handful of guys who wrecked the world’s economy profess to be innocent as lambs. What I couldn’t see was the millions of people who let them get away with it. The modern face of evil is helplessness in the face of power – and people who are only interested in themselves. People who have lost the ability to be good – or to care for others. People who have ceased to ex … Read More

via The Compulsive Explainer

Map of Foreclosures Nationwide (via ReReno’s Blog, Reno/Sparks Real Estate)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Here is an interactive map of the foreclosure crisis in the United States. If a picture says a thousands words …

James Pilant

Map of Foreclosures Nationwide Would you like to see what’s happening in foreclosures in your area? NPR has an interactive map showing foreclosures on a county by county basis. Click on the image to view the interactive map. … Read More

via ReReno’s Blog, Reno/Sparks Real Estate

Giving Credit For Agreeing With Me!

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Capitalism, ethics, Government Failure, Philosophy of Business1 Comment

I like most people like being told how smart I am. The next best thing to being told how smart you is to find agreement with your ideas. Here’s agreement with my thoughts. I get a certain guilty pleasure putting it up. This is a book review from the web site – Audiobooks Today Blog. Once I discovered the web site, I immediately favorited it. I’m not an audio book guide preferring to read but the book reviews are wonderful. You would enjoy it.

From the article –

THE BETRAYAL OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY by Clyde Prestowitz is a chilling examination of why the American Century is over, and how emerging countries like China will own the 21st. It unravels the history of our giving up production while increasing our consumption of imports, and what this portends for the U.S. unless a radical change of course is undertaken now, (and Americans get back to work doing what they once did six decades ago). Ominously, few in America act as if our affluence or standard of living will ever change, and instead continue to look to the government for bailouts while watching ball games on TV, yet when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner visited Beijing University in 2009—and told students there that the dollar was safe—their response was that THEY LAUGHED. Not only are our remaining high tech jobs moving overseas, along with the plants that make computer chips, but service jobs are moving to India too. To top it off, even as our infrastructure is failing and our debt is increasing, our baby boomers are now starting to retire in record numbers, expecting the government to help support them. Narrated by Erik Synnestvedt, the audiobook pulls no punches in attacking the shrug-away “don’t worry” attitude of the Bush administration, and a universal shortsightedness that focused on quarterly statements while muleishly wearing blinders about the future. Unless we start exporting something other than soda and cigarettes, Prestowitz reveals, Americans will soon be forced to give up the “something for nothing” mantra that has characterized our accumulation of debt on the backs of “third world” producers (including cheap oil for much longer) as they acquire “first world” status from us by owning all our industries.

Like me, the author finds the policies of the United States to be disastrous over the long term. Soon, a visitor to South America, no matter what nation, will notice the obvious similarities to our nation except some of them have much better statistics. What I mean by statistics is infant mortality rate and life span. Some of these nations has overtaken us in these areas.

This country is 38th in life expectancy. The United States of American is second rate in life expectancy in comparison to Costa Rico (and Cuba).

Just great. What’s next? A high infant mortality rate?

Oops! We’re 33rd. For every 1,000 births in this country, more than six children die. Guess who we’re behind this time? Cuba and Slovakia.

There’s 195 countries on the list. I wonder with our infrastructure disintegrating and our hospital system headed toward disaster, how low we can go. Maybe we can hit a round number like 100? What do you think?

James Pilant