So much economic news (with too much of it mis-reported) that I want to keep you apprised. Following Thursday’s report by the Commerce Department that the U.S. economy had shrunk for the second quarter in a row, economists in and out of the White House have spent much of the last several days deconstructing the word “recession.”
There are no shortages of gas or other products. No gas station is posting, “Sorry, we’re out of gas”. America gets little from Russia. Enough with the supply chain baloney. The high prices are being caused by corporate greed and price controls are needed to lower the prices.
Energy companies should be made to clean up their messes. They are still problems from the Exxon-Valdez “accident” years ago. The biggest problems of all in the Gulf of Mexico haven’t even been addressed. They should be made to clean up all the messes they have made and the new windfall profits tax should be implemented to ensure the citizens don’t have to clean up after them anymore.
Jul 30, 2022·edited Jul 30, 2022Liked by Robert Reich
What's wrong with the economy (definition not provided) shrinking? Does that mean that fewer people are buying plastic disposable stuff? It certainly doesn't mean that fossil fuel corporations, Big Ag, etc. are losing money, or that their shareholders are suffering. Our portfolio has lost a bunch of money because we specifically exclude weapons, Big Ag, Fossil Fuels, etc. So is the planet better off if the economy is shrinking? Does it mean fewer Amazon forests are being cut? What on earth does it mean in terms of greenhouse gas emissions? Does it mean corporations start laying people off with the excuse "reduced demand?" We all call BS on that one. Corporations lay people off when they effing feel like it. The thing is, right now we need a new economic model based on the elementary understanding that The Planet Is Finite. The Atmosphere Is Finite. We can't provide all the Californians who want more houses with more water. You can stay in California, suffer, and die, or you can leave California. It can't be fixed. Whether the economy shrinks or grows.
Oh goodness. We should take away the government incentives given to the oil companies and put it back into the economy some how. There is an unbalance in the US of what is good for the country and its people and what is good for those at the top...This is sad news Robert, but much needed. Thank you.
Supporting wage increases are not the answer. It is without a doubt curbing the obscene profits that are made by our large corporations at the EXPENSE of the working men and women. On top of these unfair profits they are exempt from paying certain taxes, added to that they are offered INCENTIVES
from our very stupid Government (and I mean both dominant party's) like grants to expand, that they do not pay back. You may be fighting for $15 an hour, but next year you will find yourselves needing $25 per hour, just to keep food on the table. Under these conditions the spiral will continue upward as it has for decades. When a large corporation is forced to pay higher wages, they just raise the price of their commodity to the consumer who winds up paying for their own increase. It cost the corporation nothing in the end. Allan Weiss
Once again many politicians and political pundits use consumers and workers as a scapegoat instead of addressing the real cause of high prices. This has become increasingly apparent since the Supreme Court ruling on "Citizens United" which opened the floodgates to corporate money. Politician's no longer work for the people, they work for the corporations who pad their pockets. Stop that flood of those donations and watch how quickly they'll be bending over backwards to pass bills that American support.
Yeah, those $600 checks two years ago and $0.50 raises for workers are causing inflation. Sho' `nuff. But not $3 trillion from the Fed to bail out the stock market, $1 trillion in corporate buybacks, and 1,322% increase in corporate CEO compensation since 1978 - lawsy, no, them thangs ain't causing inflation. Nosiree Bob!
"Bolder antitrust enforcement – even the threat to block mergers and break up giant companies – could also reduce their ardor to raise prices."
Agree, mergers should be broken up for the sake of the free market.
Tax the corporations, tax the wealthy. Allow the middle class to have more money to spend on consumables. This will reduce inflation over time, by reducing demand, and will be good overall for the GDP (as well as the factory owners).
FOX NEWS ALERT: Higher taxes will increase inflation.
Congress and the Fed helping the worker? Never as business funds them. The SC has just about always favored corporations over workers. It is a stacked deck and besides, it is easier to raise interest rates than to curb business profits.
How do "we" do this in a political culture that characterizes Democrats as "Left" and current Republicans as "Conservatives"? I stopped listening to KALW's "Left, Right, and Center" last weekend when they announced that the spokesperson for the Left was a Hillary Clinton person—the program maybe should be renamed "Right, Right, and Righter."
More to the point, how do "we" promote policies that will redress the extreme wealth differential that is gouging or ignoring the majority of Americans?
What I have seen in the USA the past 40 years is the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The middle class is no more. There is not going back now. Welcome to World Economic Forum started in 1971. The Forum suggests that a globalized world is best managed by a self-selected coalition of multinational corporations, governments and civil society organization. There is more going on around the world that affects everything happening in America, our politics and our communities. Citizens and politicians are ants on a hill running around in the dirt. When we truly understand what is happening to our planet we should then be looking at the bigger picture. This recession in the USA will last once again, for awhile, no matter what we say or do. Everyone stay happy and healthy. Thanks to Robert and all for caring to share your thoughts.
Interesting article. I wonder is there any movement to induce the president to do something about the price gouging going on especially in the oil corporations.
I do believe price controls and anti-monopoly enforcement will help control inflation. But we also need to attack the root cause of the problem, the extreme wealth of individuals (After all corporations are people - right?). Their income tax should increase when the well being of the mass of the people is not doing well.
This is simple common sense. I don't understand why it's so hard to implement (aside from the fact that corporations control our government).
There are no shortages of gas or other products. No gas station is posting, “Sorry, we’re out of gas”. America gets little from Russia. Enough with the supply chain baloney. The high prices are being caused by corporate greed and price controls are needed to lower the prices.
Energy companies should be made to clean up their messes. They are still problems from the Exxon-Valdez “accident” years ago. The biggest problems of all in the Gulf of Mexico haven’t even been addressed. They should be made to clean up all the messes they have made and the new windfall profits tax should be implemented to ensure the citizens don’t have to clean up after them anymore.
What's wrong with the economy (definition not provided) shrinking? Does that mean that fewer people are buying plastic disposable stuff? It certainly doesn't mean that fossil fuel corporations, Big Ag, etc. are losing money, or that their shareholders are suffering. Our portfolio has lost a bunch of money because we specifically exclude weapons, Big Ag, Fossil Fuels, etc. So is the planet better off if the economy is shrinking? Does it mean fewer Amazon forests are being cut? What on earth does it mean in terms of greenhouse gas emissions? Does it mean corporations start laying people off with the excuse "reduced demand?" We all call BS on that one. Corporations lay people off when they effing feel like it. The thing is, right now we need a new economic model based on the elementary understanding that The Planet Is Finite. The Atmosphere Is Finite. We can't provide all the Californians who want more houses with more water. You can stay in California, suffer, and die, or you can leave California. It can't be fixed. Whether the economy shrinks or grows.
Oh goodness. We should take away the government incentives given to the oil companies and put it back into the economy some how. There is an unbalance in the US of what is good for the country and its people and what is good for those at the top...This is sad news Robert, but much needed. Thank you.
VOTE!
D = What People Need
R = Corporate Greed
Supporting wage increases are not the answer. It is without a doubt curbing the obscene profits that are made by our large corporations at the EXPENSE of the working men and women. On top of these unfair profits they are exempt from paying certain taxes, added to that they are offered INCENTIVES
from our very stupid Government (and I mean both dominant party's) like grants to expand, that they do not pay back. You may be fighting for $15 an hour, but next year you will find yourselves needing $25 per hour, just to keep food on the table. Under these conditions the spiral will continue upward as it has for decades. When a large corporation is forced to pay higher wages, they just raise the price of their commodity to the consumer who winds up paying for their own increase. It cost the corporation nothing in the end. Allan Weiss
Once again many politicians and political pundits use consumers and workers as a scapegoat instead of addressing the real cause of high prices. This has become increasingly apparent since the Supreme Court ruling on "Citizens United" which opened the floodgates to corporate money. Politician's no longer work for the people, they work for the corporations who pad their pockets. Stop that flood of those donations and watch how quickly they'll be bending over backwards to pass bills that American support.
It's all about greed. Until they are hit hard in the pocket they will continue to get away with it. Shame on Democrats for letting them.
Yeah, those $600 checks two years ago and $0.50 raises for workers are causing inflation. Sho' `nuff. But not $3 trillion from the Fed to bail out the stock market, $1 trillion in corporate buybacks, and 1,322% increase in corporate CEO compensation since 1978 - lawsy, no, them thangs ain't causing inflation. Nosiree Bob!
"Bolder antitrust enforcement – even the threat to block mergers and break up giant companies – could also reduce their ardor to raise prices."
Agree, mergers should be broken up for the sake of the free market.
Tax the corporations, tax the wealthy. Allow the middle class to have more money to spend on consumables. This will reduce inflation over time, by reducing demand, and will be good overall for the GDP (as well as the factory owners).
FOX NEWS ALERT: Higher taxes will increase inflation.
Bullshit.
Congress and the Fed helping the worker? Never as business funds them. The SC has just about always favored corporations over workers. It is a stacked deck and besides, it is easier to raise interest rates than to curb business profits.
Yes, yes, and yes.
How do "we" do this in a political culture that characterizes Democrats as "Left" and current Republicans as "Conservatives"? I stopped listening to KALW's "Left, Right, and Center" last weekend when they announced that the spokesperson for the Left was a Hillary Clinton person—the program maybe should be renamed "Right, Right, and Righter."
More to the point, how do "we" promote policies that will redress the extreme wealth differential that is gouging or ignoring the majority of Americans?
What I have seen in the USA the past 40 years is the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The middle class is no more. There is not going back now. Welcome to World Economic Forum started in 1971. The Forum suggests that a globalized world is best managed by a self-selected coalition of multinational corporations, governments and civil society organization. There is more going on around the world that affects everything happening in America, our politics and our communities. Citizens and politicians are ants on a hill running around in the dirt. When we truly understand what is happening to our planet we should then be looking at the bigger picture. This recession in the USA will last once again, for awhile, no matter what we say or do. Everyone stay happy and healthy. Thanks to Robert and all for caring to share your thoughts.
Interesting article. I wonder is there any movement to induce the president to do something about the price gouging going on especially in the oil corporations.
I do believe price controls and anti-monopoly enforcement will help control inflation. But we also need to attack the root cause of the problem, the extreme wealth of individuals (After all corporations are people - right?). Their income tax should increase when the well being of the mass of the people is not doing well.