If they want to tighten the economy, why not raise the Federal minimum wage so workers get more money rather than raise interest rates where the banks get more money?
Edward, The Senate can’t even get support from 50 Democrats to raise the Federal minimum wage. Perhaps you recall Kyrsten Sinema’s despicable thumbs-down curtsy, somehow invoking, in her addled mind, John McCain’s thumbs-down no vote, which saved the Affordable Care Act.
Edward, Agreed. Hence, though the PRO Act remains stalled in the Senate, do you view Biden’s executive order mandating the government enter into agreements with labor unions for federal projects whose costs exceed $35 million as substantial progress?
Edward F Dijeau ; Yes, the banks get more money, but also investors who live off the interest on their money do too, don't they? Most workers do not have investments that generate money, so this raising the interest rates will help wealthier people.
Remember the financial crisis of 2008 thru 2011? The fed raised the rates 13 times forcing home mortgages to skyrocket and people lost their homes and financial institutions were stuck with overvalued real estate. The government said they were too big to fail so they were all bailed out. They lowered interest rate and the banks lowered their savings interest rates to .01%. Those savings rate never went up in 2016 when the fed raised the rates again and the banks paid back all those government loans, made huge profits and raised credit card rates. Savers that depended on CD and savings interest, to survive on, never got any real returns. Now we are at near zero again and they plan on raising rates to the banks. Do you really think they will raise the rates to savers this time when they did not last time? The Fed rate would have to hover at 4.5% before banks would even offer more money to savers and that will not happen for another 5 years if the fed only raises rate 1% per year. Rasing the minimum wage $1.00 is equivalent in tightening the monetary rate 1/4% in the Fed rate. The3 planed rate increases totaling 3/4% would be like a $3.00 per hour minimum wage increase and would help the poor get of government subsidies and save the taxpayers billions of dollars. Do that each year for the next 3 years and we would have a minimum wage of $16.25 without raising mortgage rates, student loan interest or even need more stimulus from the Fed. Inflation is caused by an oversized demand for a limited quantity of goods. This is the case now just as it was in 1946 after the war. Raising the wages worked then, it should also work now. let's re-build the middle class.
But isn't it the supply chain backlog that is making goods unavailable? The big corporations are buying back their stocks. Anti trust laws allow the big monopolies to charge whatever they want.?
The amount of foreign money buying New York, etc. real estate is enough to bury any of Biden's attempts to "fix" anything. The US is owned by the gazzilionaires who manipulate their money through US real estate and businesses to "clean it."
It seems it's time for a good long 2nd Great Depression, to break the money laundering and depose the bought and paid for elected govt officials rewarded by the plutocrats. Whomever the might be.
All True. This inflation might just be temporary but the falling behind those workers have felt is already 20 years in the making. By raising the wages at the bottom, more people will be able to buy the things they need in the future. Raising interest rates will only make banks more profitable and things more expensive and less affordable slowing down the economy at the bottom where the things are made. The top 1% won't even feel it at all.
The trouble is, them that has, want more. Corporate landlords would be happy to have people unable to pay the rent/mortgage.Theres always another renter in the pipeline to keep rents up.
Corporate companies are already buying up neighborhoods, one house at a time. They then can rent the properties out, while not doing proper maintenance. When the houses disintegrate, they will have milked out the propertie$ and can either sell off cheap or have them torn down and sell off the acreage.
That's my take on what I'm reading. The internet has so many stories.....both fact and fiction. I take this one as fact. It's a story online about a town in Tennessee. The people at the top of the blood-sucking list can always figure out how to make money off the rest of us.
Seems that most ordinary ppl just want to live their lives and try to have more if they can honestly get it. My guess is that they don't pay much attention beyond their own property lines. So won't catch on to the grift until it's too late for their pocketbooks to stay safe.
In the last big depression in the 80s we lost 1/3 of our assets. Lucky we had a house left to sell when the economy improved: one good reason for buying an affordable house for body and soul. Forget the fashion dressing and start with a decent affordable roof over your head. And pay it off as soon as you can, even if it means skipping vacations and dessert after dinner. OWN it free and clear ASAP and shun mortgages ASAP. No you don't need the latest new clothes and new car, not until the mortgage is paid off. (Be grateful for Covid's blue jeans economy). Be single-minded and do it if you can. You owe it to yourself. Some things are hard to do, but can be done if we make the decision to do them. And that's it for today from this quarter.
Until ordinary people with good sense --and un-affiliated with profiteering folks-- get decent interest on their savings, my country i s going to hell in a handbasket.
Laurie, Investors do nothing but collect money but everyone else (wage earners) have bank accounts and should be able to earn interest while the bank uses their money. This hurts retired people too but I think the best savings generation is behind us.
I agree! My grandfather showed me his passbook several decades ago when I was an elementary school student. He said money in the bank is your best friend. His money was earning 5%! Try that today! If you can buy homes and flip them it may be good until the housing market goes bust. Banks used to give people toasters and radios as incentives to open an account. After retirement, my grandfather toured the European cathedrals, and took a trip to Mexico. I could not do that with the nonexistent 'interest' from today's banks. When we bought our home 10 years ago I could not believe the interest the bank is making on out mortgage. It is more than the cost of our home! Robbery!
So true, sometimes you pay twice the price of your home depending on the rates. And credit card interest rates are 18-24%!! My parents earned substantial interest and it helped quite a bit. They never earned over $35k/yr. 4 children…we did well, all went to college etc. But they didn’t have to buy new technology every other year among other things.
I’m shocked out of my chair when I hear what friends in England pay for the equivalent of property taxes, auto ins, etc. Next to nothing! Likewise, they can’t believe what we pay out and that we also don’t have govt. health coverage. They can earn far less and live better than us.
I think you're comment about previous generations not having to buy new technology every other year is really relevant The 'planned obsolescence' of most of our tech and consumer products force us to direct whatever income we have into the rampant consumerism that drives corporate profits and is destroying the planet.
Another sign of poor economic education in the USA. If the average person doesn't own stocks, all the millions of shares pay the wealthy the cash, while the workers make do with a wage. Build a stock account, learn about it. Vote your shares annually, or don't, re-invest. Learn enough to figure out when the economy could affect your companies. Just one share of a great company will help build your bank account. You can do this online. Plenty of info on the internet.
I was one of those workers. What part of my budget would I use to buy stocks? Food? Utilities? Car? We didn’t have a union. Those rare times when we got a tiny raise in pay they increased the cost of our insurance premium, deductible, co-pay, co-insurance, etc. Forget cost of living. Essentially, made less and less every year. When the budget needed cutting they cut our hours, or staff. “don’t work harder, work smarter.” Thanks to the laughingly named “ right to work” law which translated into the frequently repeated refrain of “ if you don’t like it there are plenty of people waiting for your jobs.” And we could be fired for “ any reason or no reason,” another refraining we heard frequently. That happened to some very good employees because they had spent decades working their way up the pay grade and benefits such as vacation and sick time. Fire them and hire someone to work their job at starting pay and benefits. And don’t let the door hit you in the a.. on the way out. Buying stock is for people who can afford to lose money. Like rich people. Because of the unreliability of stocks companies, so they said companies like ours froze pensions and started 401K’s, now it was our risk. And how do you contribute to that? Stop eating? Consider yourself educated.
I've long said, and have said it here - on occasion - that inflation is an economic ruse allowing employers to give their employees a pay raise and cut simultaneously!
Betty, Do you imagine I was not one of the worker bees, leaving my kids at home at night without me and asking the neighbor down the hall to be there if the building caught fire?
Working the night shift for the extra few dollars to help pay the rent? Driving an old car and hoping it would get me the 20 miles to work all night and then back home in time to see the kids off to school?
I'm ancient and have watched people get help from the taxpayers while I gave up new clothes, haircuts, a social life, except for uniforms I had to pay for myself. And I ate less so my kids had enough. And cried that child support was worth less and less over the years. And was lucky to have the bit of child support I did get.
I agree that Repugs have skinned the workers, and that is why I protected myself as much as possible in later years. No booze, no cigarettes, no movie tickets, rationed gas money. I No tv, esp. pay for tv! No makeup or haircuts.
I still pick up pennies in parking lots.And found $15 haircuts. Frugality is a given, but piggy bank money can add up. A change in jobs can mean a bit of a pay raise and the extra goes into the untouchable savings/investment fund.
My immigrant father worked a hard labor job 5 days week and cleaned out attics and basements on Saturdays. While my mother eventually found a government job to help with expenses.
Later, my newer husband's family knew that govt work was the one secure thing during the Great Depression and most of them found a government job to keep food on the table. Teachers, game wardens, even road builders.
He and I went without to afford our first house together when govt bonds were paying 12% and we built up from there. One step at a time. We had coffee once a week on Wednesdays, sitting on the front steps while listening to the owls talk back and forth. We grew our own food in a small garden. (You find the sources of goods and money and go on from there).
Consider yourself empathized with. But, sympathy, not a bit. If I could eke out enough to eventually start a brokerage account online, i think many others can, one way or another. Sooner or later.
I just regret I did not buy ten shares of Amazon when it came on the market. Or a few Tesla. We all do what we stretch to do and let the regrets go. I wish you well, and hope you will find the will to figure out how to make life better for yourself and that you vote for a govt that will help and support all of us instead of making life more precarious. PS. When your company was cutting wages and benefits, that was the time to buy a few shares and reinvest the dividends. My education came hard and I didn't do anything alone. I lost my kids to a father who had the money, so hardly know them now. There will be hurts and disappointments, but we try to learn from them.
I am not looking for sympathy. I am mad as hell. While I was working I was taking care of two children, and then a grandchild and then for six years two parents, one had Alzheimer’s and the other a massive stroke. My “company” was a community hospital. After 26 years, when I retired, my wage was frozen at $18.50 an hour and no longer was working full time. My husband, at the time, and I built our house using a $19,000 construction loan. I was a stay at home mom at that time. I never thought of myself as a “worker bee.” I was a wife, there for a man who survived colon cancer and a pulmonary embolism, a mother of two adopted children, a grandmother who took her grandson every weekend, a daughter who took care of her parents and a volunteer in our community. I guess you think my priorities were in the wrong place. I don’t. I am a strong supporter of unions. And by the way, I couldn’t afford to go farther than an associate degree. When I wanted to complete my education I was told mortgage your house. I wish the government understood that education is a good investment. But the up side is that in my job I got to help people. I treated our patients like I would want my family to be treated. And that is something money can’t buy.
Most people who are invested in the stock market with retirement etc, don’t own enough shares in any company to influence a vote. So, for example, voting to cap executive wages at the company or tie it to actual good performance rarely gets voted through. Those with higher percentages if ownership can control that.
It’s difficult for the average person to navigate the stock market. But it is s good idea to have some money there. Money sitting in the bank today loses value, but it is insured and it’s necessary to have liquid assets somewhere.
I was taught that if you cannot risk losing your money, do not 'play' the stock market. I also read that only the big money makes anything on the stock market, often on insider trading. My brother had some success and has money for his retirement. I remember in the 2008 'crash' he lost $40,000. He did not give up, and continued his investments. He started early and did well. At 70, with modest income, I'm not into it.
"I'm not into it." We all chose our own way and live (or die) with the results. Im curious about what you do with your money that u are not willing to try putting a out few dollars to try the stock market. All kinds of help online. Your brother prolly could teach you the basics to get you started. I don't understand why ppl won't at least try to improve their income if they are unhappy with their situation. Enuf said on this. Wishing you your comfort where you can get it .
Honestly, even with an MBA and a degree in economics I find the stock market not much better than betting on the ponies at the horse track. The stock market is basically a big washing machine of money that the rich use to grow their wealth and hide their ill-gotten fortunes. That doesn't mean you can't get lucky with the right investments but you're playing at a table where everything is stacked against you. So many paths for the average person to put their money to work have been choked out that it's no wonder the new adage is to get a 'side hustle'. Basically, put more of your finite amount of time out for purchase to what are essentially shell companies that don't offer any guarantees, benefits or protections.
It must feel that way, certainly. I think perhaps the biggest issue is that people don't see opportunity when it lands in their laps. If you had bought say, 10 shares in Amazon, Facebook, Tesla, would you be complaining about being cheated today? Look up how much they are worth now, why don't you.
Opportunities..... but I do admit I lost on one or two. One b/c I thought a new president meant it when he talked about improving highways and bridges etc..then could not get the support from Congress to actually turn a shovelful of dirt.
I was unsure when i starte---d sometimes new ventures fail. Do you think Coca-Cola will fail in the next 5-10 years? MacDonalds? Buy what you know and a few dollars increase in stock price plus dividends is money in the bank.More than the bank will pay you for your savings, which dollars buy less every week.
As long as people need housing, you could be making some money every year invested in a company that owns more apartments than you can count.
I'm eyeing a property company that leases to the federal government, which always pays its rent.
But it's your life and it's not luck but study, learning, and attention to details that pay off. Easier to feel picked on than learn something that could improve a financial life. Easier to be afraid than bold.
C'est la vie, as I learned in French class when high school was about education, not football/basketball. Bon jour. Sleep well at night.
Wow! MJ Hooper. Your religion is capitalism. Wishing you comfort where you can get it. My great grandfather worked hard, the son of immigrants, invested in stock and lost his money in the crash. I’m not into it, either.
Which crash? Grandfather is not the only one who lost money. What companies did he invest in? If the only one had been Coca-Cola, he would have done well. A little At&T and wowsers!!!!!
If you find out what the losers and the winners invest in and see how it worked for them, it helps judge what's good for you.
Don't you wish you had the income from even one share of Tesla? Or Amazon?
Me, too.
By owning a "basket" of stocks you protect yourself from losing all of it. And the profits of a winner are paid into your account w/o you lifting a finger.
Capitalism is how this country started and how it has lasted this long. The French monarchy needed cash for a war and sold the US the Louisiana Purchase,cheaply , to get the money. That's capitalism Shares are sold to raise money and the buyers decide if the world needs the products. .
My religion is of no consequence. But I fail to see the virtue in trying to lose your money by keeping it in the bank instead of growing it by learning and careful investing ,starting with a few hundred dollars and growing, but we all do what we must to protect ourselves, including not studying and learning. Good luck with that. Over and out.
My inlaws bought stock in two companies and framed the certificates when both failed. Which sometimes happens when you buy to support yr friends. My husband framed the certificates and bought one of the great companies. Big smile every time we received the dividend check.
Capitalism is what working for money is all about. We ALL are capitalists in some ways.
Come to think of it,, would you have been suckered into supporting a certain former president if he had offered you shares in a casino?
Now it's time to see which of my companies is paying well or needs to be sold and replaced. Casinos look good for short term, but only the ones my advisors suggest. My religion is not gambling, either, but if some want to gamble, I'll accept their money. You will enjoy what sounds like a bitter old ag b/c any govt. guarantees are dust. .
The stock market is highly manipulated (hedge fund managers etc) Without knowing someone’s finances and age and debt load, the stock market may not be the best choice. If a person is fairly young, they have more earnings ahead and can take more risk.
Hedge funds are way beyond my ken. I play in the kiddie pool.
I do remember days when you could see all that activity on the internet, but not recently. Maybe I'm too lazy to uncover it? I have a good internet advisor subscription, so if hedge funds were unsetting things I'm sure I'd read about it in a daily update.
Fear of risk is common. I'm old, and prefer not to risk that i will be homeless or hungry, so increase my income whenever possible in whatever way is legal and the path well trodden.
You really think Tesla, Facebook, Amazon etc are risks? I'm still learning, which is why i don't own any of those really big payers. Shoulda bought them when they came out but back then i had other interests.
But if war breaks out--and it could--the govt spending will pay you a dividend. Day to day, you can watch prices rise and fall. Pretty soon it becomes a sort of game to see if your today picks are beating the you of yesterday. A small investment. Is all it takes. A large one now for Amazon ($3000 +)and the other biggies, but there are plenty of others to choose from.
Dollar Store near you?
One of many companies that move into a community and suck the cash out of pockets of poorer people and send it to the home office, where some of it gets put in the stock portfolios of people who 'get it." I could buy their stock but don't b/c I have a conscience and try not to support companies that suck the lifeblood out of the pockets of my community and the people who don't have much to spend.
If W-M had not driven out of business multiple businesses in my county I would own their stock. Decades ago, I saw the first WM in Arkansas and told my husband we should buy it. He wouldn't. They posted their stock price on the wall in the store back then. But not now, when they have driven local businesses out, killing those entrepreneur investments in our communities. But if u patronize WM you might take an interest.
As you are entitled to feel. Now I need to read my forms and see how much i'l have to pay in federal taxes for my small holdings. Good luck with whatever rings ypur bells.
Lenders, with fixed interest rates, make less on existing fixed rate loans. New loans go for higher interest rates and variable interest rates on lines of credit, credit cards and home mortgages, the barrower pays more. There is a standard 3% profit gap on the lowest rate offered by lenders from the fed rate on secured loans. That is loans with collateral like homes and cars. As new loans get made, they again get the 3% gap. if the fed raises the rate 3 times at 1/4% each time, the gap becomes smaller to 2-1/4% but that will not hurt when most loans are short term. The 3% gap also exists in saves to loan rates. Unless the fed rate goes above 3%, banks will not give any batter interest rates to savers. Non securer personal loans have a 6% profit gap. Most workers, however, carry short tern variable rates on their credit cards with a 9-2/4 % margin that will go up when the fed raises rates. many of those consumers are getting charged 19% on their revolving credit while banks still get the money, they lend at close to 0%. This is why giving the workers more money, in the form of higher wages is better than raising the FED rates to banks that will just raise the consumers rates even more.
Laurie..how does that work? Interest rate hikes will help wealthier people? And not reg'ler folks who collect interest? If interest rates were decent, average ppl could collect morei interest on their savings/ R U Saying this is not good?
Interesting. How have almost 0% rates worked out for us so far? It hurts to think it, but if ppl don't have enough to buy a house, maybe they ought wait until they do have enough to buy one...instead of spending on the latest shining toy.
Some second or 3rd-hand cars are affordable and still get you to work on time. Frugality is not a "dirty" word.
Plenty of retirees w/ smaller incomes own smaller amounts of stock, too. As long as the company or the economy doesnt go bankrupt, the dividends keep trickling in.When they stop, get out and return if things improve.
My take is you don’t lose money unless you sell stock when they are worth less than you paid for them. I did buy a small amount of stock which dropped in value and I waited until I could break even before selling it. At retirement my 403B was converted to an IRA which I am required to take out money from every year, because apparently the government can’t survive without making me pay taxes on some of it every year. It is not a good replacement for the pension they promised me (considered part of my earnings). I have used it to subsidize my income, for things like dental care, car insurance, and other necessities. It is almost gone, but lucky for me, my son and his wife are taking me into their home. Not the retirement I had planned, but thankful I have that option.
Why not instead implement a 50% discount/rebate policy at retail sale which would immediately double the purchasing power of every worker. In other words a minimum wage earner's purchasing power would go from $7.35/hr. to $14.70/hr. With this policy the enterprise does not have to increase its prices because of the increased cost of labor. This policy is also in the interests of both the consumer and businesses because it immediately potentially doubles the free and clear demand for every enterprise's goods and services. That makes it politically integrative. Remember, bankers and the financial industry are few and consumers and small to medium sized enterprises are many. Imagine a mass movement to implement this and other of the policies of a new monetary paradigm. You want change? Think paradigm change, not just palliative reforms.
Who would pay for the discount? The government? The department store? If the worker is paid a living wage of $14.70, the worker would pay for it with the value of their work and by the company that they work for. For capitalism to work, the capitalists' need to support the economy through good products from people that make good wages.
The monetary authority, namely the FED or another authority mandated to do so. The rebate is money, not debt created in the same way we have idiotically allowed the private banking system to create money except only in the monopolistic form of Debt presently does...simply by accounting debits and credits. In the discount/rebate policy the retailer creates an account labeled Sales Discounts/Rebates which has a normal credit balance and the monetary authority debits the exact amount of the credit balance to make the retailer whole on their overheads and profit margins. There is no need for the FED to create bonds to cover reserves as is normally needed when money is created as debt...because monetary gifts are their own reserves in that there is no need to repay them...as there is in the case of money creaeted as debt. And of course as retail sale is the terminal ending point of the entire economic process and thus by definition the terminal expression point for all costs like inflation, even if you have 7% inflation which we (temporarily) have now a 50% discount to every consumer product would mean you actually had (almost miraculously) 43% BENEFICIAL price deflation. When you get past all the the contradictory economic orthodoxy of present economic theory and see the temporal universe effects of the new monetary paradigm "the scales literally fall from your eyes."
I already shop sales and look for deep discounts on the list price of things. many do not have the time or even know what an item is worth. Yes, I agree with the premise that looking for value is great. i buy Value stocks because they trade at a discount. I buy a second hand 18-month-old car because the car is retailing at 50% of the new car price and will last 10 years weather brand new or slightly used. Finding the deals is the secret because no retailer wants you to know they have a "Back stage" except Macys.
Thrift and frugality are economic and personal virtues. Nobody is trying to deny you that kind of behavior. But that is also not a valid excuse for not critiquing or ignoring the massive negative effects of allowing private finance the dominating power of a monopoly paradigm for the creation and distribution of money. Monopolies are ALWAYS problematic whether in economics or any other area of human endeavor.
I hope all of you including Dr Reich got that post. New paradigm concepts, when actually "seen" change everything in one's mind and in the entire pattern or patterns they apply to.
We really need to stop pretending as if our officials and institutions make decisions for their publicly stated reason. The Fed and Federal Government do what rich lobbyists and companies want them to do. The "news" focuses on clicks and views, not accountability or truth. Elected officials do represent, but it's their wealthiest donors and whatever perspective will keep them in power that day. Education strives to inform, as long as it also indoctrinates. We're never going to rebuild based on truth unless we all stop holding onto and propping up the lies that got us here.
Yes. Like why is the service of the person who collects our garbage less valuable than that of a CEO, which in my opinion usually serve themselves. We are told certain people deserve high income but the average person doesn’t even deserve a living wage. And most of us bought into that. Why are police and firemen ( people risking their lives every day) and EMT’s ( people who our lives are in their hands) less deserving of a good paycheck than others? Why are people who care for other people’s children, daycare workers underpaid? Why are teachers underpaid? Teachers are doing important service shaping the citizens of our future. To me they are more valuable than a CEO. But we bought the idea we who serve are not as worthy as others. At the hospital I worked at, the CEO made more than the doctors, who, at that time, had office hours, saw hospital inpatients, had to do on-call, and consults. Expensive education and hard working. With a tremendous amount of responsibility. Yet the CEO was guaranteed lucrative severance pay before he was even hired. Payed huge salaries and benefits. They got paid to increase profits (sometimes amazing ignorant of the companies they work for) and often do that by keeping employees pay low, layoffs, buying shoddy supplies (no savings there in the long run) etc. and then they get a nice bonus. Meanwhile the employees are the ones that are making the money for the (in my case) hospital, while working short staffed with shoddy supplies. But, as children, we were brainwashed into believing some were of less value and deserved less. So I guess I am a democratic socialist, which means everyone is of value and at the very least should be able to earn a living wage. And capitalism with no restraints is dangerous. In a democracy unrestrained power leads to an autocracy.
Perhaps we need to somehow find solutions that don’t depend on our officials to work on behalf of the working class? At least we need to take a deep dive into the possibility that such solutions exist outside of their control.
Completely agree. From the climate crisis to campaign finance reform to workers' rights, I think we have to admit our commitment to ineffective, top-down approaches to change just doesn't work...or at least these things won't work in time. Resistance from the ground up may be the only way forward.
Yes, and that is why we need to stop trying to fight with the numerous mere palliative reforms that albeit correct...are reductionistic in effect. What is needed is a new paradigm concept and its applicable policies...because a new paradigm by definition and in fact changes the nature of AN ENTIRE PATTERN OR PATTERNS. And then we need to start a mass movement to communicate the benefits of that paradigm change.
All of us, and anyone with the good sense to understand their own self interests and the guts to stand up to finance which in the prescient words of Senator Dick Durbin when describing who controls the senate said: "The banks own the joint."
Quite right. The philosophical concept behind the new monetary paradigm is grace as in love in action (the applicable aspect of which is gifting). However, (and without having to jump through any pre-scientific or religious hoops) the concept of grace is the most integrative and universally applicable concepts humanity has ever awakened to. Love and its active form, graciousness, is what enabled humans to rise above the mere struggle for survival and become aware of ethics and morality. It is also, legitmately, the pinnacle concept of every one of the world's wisdom traditions. And a true wisdom insight isn't just airy-fairie thinking its the most pragmatic distillation of thought and ETHICAL action applicable to any specific situation in life. If we want democracy to work as it is intended then we should start by changing the monetary paradigm to grace as in monetary gifting. The ensuing problem resolutions and psychological uplift could only help the good will and faith necessary for partisan political cooperation in a democracy to work.
…and the gateway to ethical action is empathy. K-12 SEL training along training in managing democracy would politically revolutionize our national culture in one generation.
In some industries, the problem is a lack of qualified workers to fill the "good" jobs that are available. This is particularly true for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) jobs, and skilled tradesmen jobs (plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc.). We have plenty of talented people in this country who could qualify for these jobs with the proper training, but for some reason we are failing miserably to train them. Why isn't addressing this problem a priority for those in Washington (like the Department of Labor?).
My son was a skilled mechanic making pretty good money, but when his bride was in nursing school she needed health insurance which was expensive as provided by her college. So he looked for work and quickly found a job that had better pay and offered an insurance plan that cost $300/month for both of them. He makes $30/hour, drives a company truck with paid mileage within a 200 mile radius. They trained him for the work on technical forklifts and elevators for storage of small items in a warehouse. Some industries are helping solve the problem of technical training, it seems.
Maybe because the vagaries of q4y elections don't allow for a coherent and cohesive all hands on deck, economic plan? The 4 yr prudential term might have saved our half-cooked bacon since the nation's founding , but not now. With honorable persons being elected tor maybe 8 years the stability would help get long-term and major plans enacted. Call this what is is. We again have a plantation economy. Thanks to nearly a century of scheming and planning by the wealthy and the politically powerful wingers to turn the country into one giant plantation. Think about what that means and see why some feel a revolution is in order, but are un-willing to do it the way the media propagandized armed and dangerous meatheads want and try to do it. Is it time for the revenge of the nerds?????
Good point! There are days I'm sure my laptop hates me. My computer guy says no, but maybe Im not sure about him, either. I do know the computer programs know more about me than I like.
Hell! What about your bank and credit card companies, not to mention health-care providers? I >really< get impatient with people who bang on about "big brother" & privacy when a government institution, as innocuous as the Census, tries to even verify their names!
I am not worried about the government. I worry about corporate data mining. If the government wants info on a person they just buy it off of Facebook, Tic Tok, Ancestry or anyone of a thousand other sources. It is illegal for the government to collect this information but not for corporations. Read the TOS, (Terms of Service) and you will find that you have no rights to keep your data safe or to keep it from being sold. The reason the TOS is so lengthy is that the average human gets tired of reading after 20-30 pages of a 800 page document.
God forbid we ever really get TRUE AI! It might just get the idea we are useless and remove most of the human race except for those that are required to do maintenance. :-)
Professor, When, a few days ago, I advocated for an Explainer-in-Chief, I did so with the understanding that we have but a small window to affect the mood of the country if, next fall, we’re to have a shot at retaining both the House and the Senate. As much as I, fellow subscribers, and your students benefit from your perceptive and accessible calls for public accountability for institutions that have a disproportionate amount of wealth, power, and influence, I would take heart from knowing you had a broader reach that actually could contribute to bridging the unseemly gap between those who own and control and those who do not.
Barbara I too am awaiting for an Explainer-in -chief. The past few months it has been like waiting for Godot. I would like very much to see this days Reich article on the front page of every newspaper and on every audio and TV news source as a counter to what seems misinformed or purposeful biased presentation.
Sorry, professor Reich, but no one in power is listening. Nothing will fix the economy until we clean out our political system. And you know what the chances of that happening are....
Eric: Ideally you are right, of course, but who counts and tallies those vote? A. Einstein said: "not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted".
I work our local polls every election, and have audited recounts. I still see relatively low turnout in off year elections. I help ensure counts count and all politics is local.
Turnout in 2018 was huge for an off year. We need to dial down the cynicism and encourage people to understand how these off-year elections effect real change.
Einstein only worked the math, E=Mc2, and warned Roosevelt that the Nazis were working to build a bomb. Scientists on the project were forbidden from consulting with Einstein. Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the laboratory and is among those who are credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb.” Hence his later comment from the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
Ladybug ; I had read that Einstein worked on the Manhattan project and was part of the development of the atomic bomb. E=Mc2 was the formula; energy times the mass times the speed of light squared, that allowed this development. Did the Nazis have that formula? was Oppenheimer the wartime head of the Manhattan Project? Just curious. I had read that Einstein was part of the Manhattan project. Our schooling is incomplete. We are left to make assumptions. I had read that one of 'the bomb' developers had committed suicide. Was that Oppenheimer?
Einstein did not work on the Manhattan project due to pacifist tendencies. The Nazis did not have the E=Mc2 formula. They were still working to find it at that time. I believe there were suicides related to the atomic bomb, but Oppenheimer was not one of them. Oppenheimer died in 1967 at the age of 62 having attended several noted universities. He was quite clumsy in the laboratory and his work was more theoretical than anything else.
Eugene Abravanel ; If they start losing money, they may pay attention. The supply chain thing shows that there is a cost to 'outsourcing'. Making things here in America may be a better deal as time goes by. Change is the only constant.
No one in power is listening. But the people have more power than they realize. It is good to see unions being boosted by the current president, too. There would be a 'sea change' if the people could get the information needed for a nonviolent revolution. Just boycotting some of the big companies could get results.
Wholeheartedly agree. However need to pitch in the additional corkscrew that training of the general population, both before & during their working years, in this country, to impolitely put it, "sucks."
I also lament the lack of a more traditional European educational model & the common, more thorough "training" of the general community as citizens in general with the addition of their higher cultural standards with higher regard for developing expertise in any category of work.
Harvey Graff who posted here brings up an interesting point for discussion: this idea that the phrase "the workers" is outdated. I respect the term in good measure due to its roots in the dissection of capitalism by Marx & Engels along with the 1930's generations that were willing to fight for exploration of these lines of thinking & support the construction of unions. However when I hear the term now I think of "worker bees" in a hive "subservient" to human "kings & queens." Think there is something to uncovering a less divisive & more power infusing term -- currently the classist implication of the term, while accurate, is backfiring . . .
The Fed has never understood the intersection of politics and economics. And it reflects historically the poverty of both fields in the modern American university and the polity. The UK, by contrast, has esp. at Oxford and Cambridge a distinguished major called PPE: Politics Philosophy Economics. More leading scholars, political and other leaders than you can count graduated from those programs. Our problems, as usual, are cultural, social, political and economic.
The Fed fails most Americans, not just the "workers." Pls let's talk about "almost" ALL AMERICANS. the language "the workers" largely expired after WWII and certainly by the 1950s. Even Bernie knows this.
On yesterday's thread about unions, I want to add: since the 1950s most (not all) US unions have hurt themselves by turning inward and overfocussing on $ for themselves and losing sight of their broader historical roles and losing interest not only in broader social and political issues but also in organizing their brothers and sisters. At this point, I'll before criticizing robert's and my fellow academics for our wholesale failures to help students and staff organize or to unionize ourselves in most states.
I have zero academic training in economics. Maybe that’s why my vision for the USA is as an economic unit whose job is to enable “the general prosperity.” Instead, we live in a culture of toxic competition as exemplified by our favorite sport, football, a sport in which players destroy their brains and then sue their employer for unsafe working conditions. Our Mother Culture is also called The Matrix, which is by its nature, invisible except to those who intentionally dive deeper. Thanks, Harvey, for bringing up this lack of economic and cultural understanding for our consideration.
Your news letters are always so damn depressing because there is absolutely nothing more that I can personally do to change the direction this country has been going since Ronald Reagan was President. Corporate fascism is on our door step with its steal toed boot wedged against our ability to stop it.
I need a new car and was looking at maybe getting an actual “new” car for once. The quote ended up being +$5k over MSRP because the dealership knows there’s a shortage of new cars. They call it “market pricing”, not even trying to hide that they are jacking up the pricing because of supply bottlenecks and because they can.
I understand they’re selling fewer cars and making less profit which sucks for the individual dealership lenders, but why isn’t the CEO of Honda marching down to DC to demand a fix to the supply bottlenecks? (could it be: because it doesn’t affect their compensation?)
Much of the supply chain woes are due to Covid lockdowns. So we should put the blame for that markup of $5000 on a virus. We just paid $3000 over MSRP for a new Subaru. That is standard pricing at the 4 dealers in our region. It was the only Crosstrek available now for the next "4 to 13 weeks".
But....we sold our 4.5 year old Honda for $2000 more than we bought it for new. We were driving for free. Silver lining if you have a low to moderate mileage vehicle in good shape to sell. Carmax and Cargurus (the latter offered more, came to the house, drove it away, money in the bank in 24 hours).
While I follow that inflation is being caused by worldwide bottlenecks and market concentration of big corporations, I do not follow why raising interest rates necessarily slows the economy. Is it simply that most people carry so much credit card debt, that any interest rate increase jumps their minimum monthly payments and they have even less money to buy the things they need? Or people with some money shift some of it into savings instead of having to put it by necessity into the stock market? If so, what does really say about the state of our economy to begin with. I'm no economist, and I certainly don't understand a lot of the nuances that are background for today's newsletter, but, as I've mentioned before, I haven't seen any basic improvement in the US economy or the well-being of our citizens since the late 70's. Sure, we have a lot more gadgets, but the basics like education, infrastructure, healthcare and other measures of our standard of living have not improved much, if at all, and in some cases, are worse for many of us. The economic meltdown and political fiascos of 2008 exposed it, and now the pandemic has shown how our economy does not work at all for our marginalized and poorer communities. Just my two cents here.
There is a reason that the birth rate is lowering. Young people are putting off having children until they get 'on their feet'. But the prize of a home is getting further from their reach.
We can’t be in an eternal super low interest rate either. The flip side is no money savings incentives. And retired people should be able to earn a little bit for their savings to help out. It seem, Robert Reich, you’re looking at the debt side. But what about savings? I’m sick and tired of earning 10 cents a month on thousands of dollars. People must have some incentive to save. Most people have the bulk of retirement funds in the stock market. That needs to change too.
In economics class I think i recall learning that money has to be making money. Saving is a waste , especially now, as interest rates paid dont keep up with inflation.
Better to invest in the companies that produce the products the nation wants to buy. I suggest electricity, big war equipment, lithium mining, gold mining (not newfangled recently created kinds of financial investments, until they prove their worth). elder care.. Real Estate investment trusts. Pot. Breweries. Infrastructure materials needed. Food. Even 1 share --to start--of Tesla, amazon, Meta. Tobacco. Drugs. Heart equipment makers. But those are just my choices...I should live long enough to buy stock in all of those companies. Just be sure to be prescient enough not to buy buggy whip factories. But do buy real estate investment trusts. People have to live, shop, do govt business in buildings. REITs rent to the govt, and pretty much govt always pays the rent.
I think part of what's behind what Dr. Reich describes as a "shortage of good jobs" is the changing of our technologies and the attempt to wean off those things relating to climate change. If we phase out use of fossil fuels, for example, that's a whole industry of jobs to be lost. COVID does contribute to the problem in many ways, but I think changing technologies is a larger, farther-reaching reason. Training people for jobs in these new technologies should be part of a "Green New Deal." Though I am retired, I feel overwhelmed just using this computer and the internet!
We have an economy, a world economy, a culture, measured by the accumulation of Capital! Until that changes everything else we do is peeing on a forest fire. It started when Kings invented coins for use in paying taxes and went on steroids with the invention of the joint-stock company. Adam Smith thought desire and demand would become satiated. The joint-stock company proved that theory wrong. What is happening to our economy today is bigger than the Federal reserve. It has become the snake that eats its own tail! It is the myth of the apocalypse, an end and a new beginning to follow.
If they want to tighten the economy, why not raise the Federal minimum wage so workers get more money rather than raise interest rates where the banks get more money?
Edward, The Senate can’t even get support from 50 Democrats to raise the Federal minimum wage. Perhaps you recall Kyrsten Sinema’s despicable thumbs-down curtsy, somehow invoking, in her addled mind, John McCain’s thumbs-down no vote, which saved the Affordable Care Act.
That is why Unions are so important to the working people in a capitalistic society.
Edward, Agreed. Hence, though the PRO Act remains stalled in the Senate, do you view Biden’s executive order mandating the government enter into agreements with labor unions for federal projects whose costs exceed $35 million as substantial progress?
Sinema ...I have no words.
Edward F Dijeau ; Yes, the banks get more money, but also investors who live off the interest on their money do too, don't they? Most workers do not have investments that generate money, so this raising the interest rates will help wealthier people.
Remember the financial crisis of 2008 thru 2011? The fed raised the rates 13 times forcing home mortgages to skyrocket and people lost their homes and financial institutions were stuck with overvalued real estate. The government said they were too big to fail so they were all bailed out. They lowered interest rate and the banks lowered their savings interest rates to .01%. Those savings rate never went up in 2016 when the fed raised the rates again and the banks paid back all those government loans, made huge profits and raised credit card rates. Savers that depended on CD and savings interest, to survive on, never got any real returns. Now we are at near zero again and they plan on raising rates to the banks. Do you really think they will raise the rates to savers this time when they did not last time? The Fed rate would have to hover at 4.5% before banks would even offer more money to savers and that will not happen for another 5 years if the fed only raises rate 1% per year. Rasing the minimum wage $1.00 is equivalent in tightening the monetary rate 1/4% in the Fed rate. The3 planed rate increases totaling 3/4% would be like a $3.00 per hour minimum wage increase and would help the poor get of government subsidies and save the taxpayers billions of dollars. Do that each year for the next 3 years and we would have a minimum wage of $16.25 without raising mortgage rates, student loan interest or even need more stimulus from the Fed. Inflation is caused by an oversized demand for a limited quantity of goods. This is the case now just as it was in 1946 after the war. Raising the wages worked then, it should also work now. let's re-build the middle class.
Bingo
But isn't it the supply chain backlog that is making goods unavailable? The big corporations are buying back their stocks. Anti trust laws allow the big monopolies to charge whatever they want.?
It is critical to address the monopolies in this country. Biden said he’ll address it, let’s hope he does.
The amount of foreign money buying New York, etc. real estate is enough to bury any of Biden's attempts to "fix" anything. The US is owned by the gazzilionaires who manipulate their money through US real estate and businesses to "clean it."
It seems it's time for a good long 2nd Great Depression, to break the money laundering and depose the bought and paid for elected govt officials rewarded by the plutocrats. Whomever the might be.
All True. This inflation might just be temporary but the falling behind those workers have felt is already 20 years in the making. By raising the wages at the bottom, more people will be able to buy the things they need in the future. Raising interest rates will only make banks more profitable and things more expensive and less affordable slowing down the economy at the bottom where the things are made. The top 1% won't even feel it at all.
The trouble is, them that has, want more. Corporate landlords would be happy to have people unable to pay the rent/mortgage.Theres always another renter in the pipeline to keep rents up.
Corporate companies are already buying up neighborhoods, one house at a time. They then can rent the properties out, while not doing proper maintenance. When the houses disintegrate, they will have milked out the propertie$ and can either sell off cheap or have them torn down and sell off the acreage.
That's my take on what I'm reading. The internet has so many stories.....both fact and fiction. I take this one as fact. It's a story online about a town in Tennessee. The people at the top of the blood-sucking list can always figure out how to make money off the rest of us.
Seems that most ordinary ppl just want to live their lives and try to have more if they can honestly get it. My guess is that they don't pay much attention beyond their own property lines. So won't catch on to the grift until it's too late for their pocketbooks to stay safe.
In the last big depression in the 80s we lost 1/3 of our assets. Lucky we had a house left to sell when the economy improved: one good reason for buying an affordable house for body and soul. Forget the fashion dressing and start with a decent affordable roof over your head. And pay it off as soon as you can, even if it means skipping vacations and dessert after dinner. OWN it free and clear ASAP and shun mortgages ASAP. No you don't need the latest new clothes and new car, not until the mortgage is paid off. (Be grateful for Covid's blue jeans economy). Be single-minded and do it if you can. You owe it to yourself. Some things are hard to do, but can be done if we make the decision to do them. And that's it for today from this quarter.
Until ordinary people with good sense --and un-affiliated with profiteering folks-- get decent interest on their savings, my country i s going to hell in a handbasket.
Laurie, Investors do nothing but collect money but everyone else (wage earners) have bank accounts and should be able to earn interest while the bank uses their money. This hurts retired people too but I think the best savings generation is behind us.
I agree! My grandfather showed me his passbook several decades ago when I was an elementary school student. He said money in the bank is your best friend. His money was earning 5%! Try that today! If you can buy homes and flip them it may be good until the housing market goes bust. Banks used to give people toasters and radios as incentives to open an account. After retirement, my grandfather toured the European cathedrals, and took a trip to Mexico. I could not do that with the nonexistent 'interest' from today's banks. When we bought our home 10 years ago I could not believe the interest the bank is making on out mortgage. It is more than the cost of our home! Robbery!
So true, sometimes you pay twice the price of your home depending on the rates. And credit card interest rates are 18-24%!! My parents earned substantial interest and it helped quite a bit. They never earned over $35k/yr. 4 children…we did well, all went to college etc. But they didn’t have to buy new technology every other year among other things.
I’m shocked out of my chair when I hear what friends in England pay for the equivalent of property taxes, auto ins, etc. Next to nothing! Likewise, they can’t believe what we pay out and that we also don’t have govt. health coverage. They can earn far less and live better than us.
I think you're comment about previous generations not having to buy new technology every other year is really relevant The 'planned obsolescence' of most of our tech and consumer products force us to direct whatever income we have into the rampant consumerism that drives corporate profits and is destroying the planet.
Another sign of poor economic education in the USA. If the average person doesn't own stocks, all the millions of shares pay the wealthy the cash, while the workers make do with a wage. Build a stock account, learn about it. Vote your shares annually, or don't, re-invest. Learn enough to figure out when the economy could affect your companies. Just one share of a great company will help build your bank account. You can do this online. Plenty of info on the internet.
I was one of those workers. What part of my budget would I use to buy stocks? Food? Utilities? Car? We didn’t have a union. Those rare times when we got a tiny raise in pay they increased the cost of our insurance premium, deductible, co-pay, co-insurance, etc. Forget cost of living. Essentially, made less and less every year. When the budget needed cutting they cut our hours, or staff. “don’t work harder, work smarter.” Thanks to the laughingly named “ right to work” law which translated into the frequently repeated refrain of “ if you don’t like it there are plenty of people waiting for your jobs.” And we could be fired for “ any reason or no reason,” another refraining we heard frequently. That happened to some very good employees because they had spent decades working their way up the pay grade and benefits such as vacation and sick time. Fire them and hire someone to work their job at starting pay and benefits. And don’t let the door hit you in the a.. on the way out. Buying stock is for people who can afford to lose money. Like rich people. Because of the unreliability of stocks companies, so they said companies like ours froze pensions and started 401K’s, now it was our risk. And how do you contribute to that? Stop eating? Consider yourself educated.
I've long said, and have said it here - on occasion - that inflation is an economic ruse allowing employers to give their employees a pay raise and cut simultaneously!
Betty, Do you imagine I was not one of the worker bees, leaving my kids at home at night without me and asking the neighbor down the hall to be there if the building caught fire?
Working the night shift for the extra few dollars to help pay the rent? Driving an old car and hoping it would get me the 20 miles to work all night and then back home in time to see the kids off to school?
I'm ancient and have watched people get help from the taxpayers while I gave up new clothes, haircuts, a social life, except for uniforms I had to pay for myself. And I ate less so my kids had enough. And cried that child support was worth less and less over the years. And was lucky to have the bit of child support I did get.
I agree that Repugs have skinned the workers, and that is why I protected myself as much as possible in later years. No booze, no cigarettes, no movie tickets, rationed gas money. I No tv, esp. pay for tv! No makeup or haircuts.
I still pick up pennies in parking lots.And found $15 haircuts. Frugality is a given, but piggy bank money can add up. A change in jobs can mean a bit of a pay raise and the extra goes into the untouchable savings/investment fund.
My immigrant father worked a hard labor job 5 days week and cleaned out attics and basements on Saturdays. While my mother eventually found a government job to help with expenses.
Later, my newer husband's family knew that govt work was the one secure thing during the Great Depression and most of them found a government job to keep food on the table. Teachers, game wardens, even road builders.
He and I went without to afford our first house together when govt bonds were paying 12% and we built up from there. One step at a time. We had coffee once a week on Wednesdays, sitting on the front steps while listening to the owls talk back and forth. We grew our own food in a small garden. (You find the sources of goods and money and go on from there).
Consider yourself empathized with. But, sympathy, not a bit. If I could eke out enough to eventually start a brokerage account online, i think many others can, one way or another. Sooner or later.
I just regret I did not buy ten shares of Amazon when it came on the market. Or a few Tesla. We all do what we stretch to do and let the regrets go. I wish you well, and hope you will find the will to figure out how to make life better for yourself and that you vote for a govt that will help and support all of us instead of making life more precarious. PS. When your company was cutting wages and benefits, that was the time to buy a few shares and reinvest the dividends. My education came hard and I didn't do anything alone. I lost my kids to a father who had the money, so hardly know them now. There will be hurts and disappointments, but we try to learn from them.
I am not looking for sympathy. I am mad as hell. While I was working I was taking care of two children, and then a grandchild and then for six years two parents, one had Alzheimer’s and the other a massive stroke. My “company” was a community hospital. After 26 years, when I retired, my wage was frozen at $18.50 an hour and no longer was working full time. My husband, at the time, and I built our house using a $19,000 construction loan. I was a stay at home mom at that time. I never thought of myself as a “worker bee.” I was a wife, there for a man who survived colon cancer and a pulmonary embolism, a mother of two adopted children, a grandmother who took her grandson every weekend, a daughter who took care of her parents and a volunteer in our community. I guess you think my priorities were in the wrong place. I don’t. I am a strong supporter of unions. And by the way, I couldn’t afford to go farther than an associate degree. When I wanted to complete my education I was told mortgage your house. I wish the government understood that education is a good investment. But the up side is that in my job I got to help people. I treated our patients like I would want my family to be treated. And that is something money can’t buy.
Most people who are invested in the stock market with retirement etc, don’t own enough shares in any company to influence a vote. So, for example, voting to cap executive wages at the company or tie it to actual good performance rarely gets voted through. Those with higher percentages if ownership can control that.
It’s difficult for the average person to navigate the stock market. But it is s good idea to have some money there. Money sitting in the bank today loses value, but it is insured and it’s necessary to have liquid assets somewhere.
My "liquid assets" are credit cards for emergencies. How much do you think someone making under 50 thou/yr should wisely have in liquidity?
It's a crap shoot for a person with little money to invest.
I was taught that if you cannot risk losing your money, do not 'play' the stock market. I also read that only the big money makes anything on the stock market, often on insider trading. My brother had some success and has money for his retirement. I remember in the 2008 'crash' he lost $40,000. He did not give up, and continued his investments. He started early and did well. At 70, with modest income, I'm not into it.
"I'm not into it." We all chose our own way and live (or die) with the results. Im curious about what you do with your money that u are not willing to try putting a out few dollars to try the stock market. All kinds of help online. Your brother prolly could teach you the basics to get you started. I don't understand why ppl won't at least try to improve their income if they are unhappy with their situation. Enuf said on this. Wishing you your comfort where you can get it .
Honestly, even with an MBA and a degree in economics I find the stock market not much better than betting on the ponies at the horse track. The stock market is basically a big washing machine of money that the rich use to grow their wealth and hide their ill-gotten fortunes. That doesn't mean you can't get lucky with the right investments but you're playing at a table where everything is stacked against you. So many paths for the average person to put their money to work have been choked out that it's no wonder the new adage is to get a 'side hustle'. Basically, put more of your finite amount of time out for purchase to what are essentially shell companies that don't offer any guarantees, benefits or protections.
It must feel that way, certainly. I think perhaps the biggest issue is that people don't see opportunity when it lands in their laps. If you had bought say, 10 shares in Amazon, Facebook, Tesla, would you be complaining about being cheated today? Look up how much they are worth now, why don't you.
Opportunities..... but I do admit I lost on one or two. One b/c I thought a new president meant it when he talked about improving highways and bridges etc..then could not get the support from Congress to actually turn a shovelful of dirt.
I was unsure when i starte---d sometimes new ventures fail. Do you think Coca-Cola will fail in the next 5-10 years? MacDonalds? Buy what you know and a few dollars increase in stock price plus dividends is money in the bank.More than the bank will pay you for your savings, which dollars buy less every week.
As long as people need housing, you could be making some money every year invested in a company that owns more apartments than you can count.
I'm eyeing a property company that leases to the federal government, which always pays its rent.
But it's your life and it's not luck but study, learning, and attention to details that pay off. Easier to feel picked on than learn something that could improve a financial life. Easier to be afraid than bold.
C'est la vie, as I learned in French class when high school was about education, not football/basketball. Bon jour. Sleep well at night.
Wow! MJ Hooper. Your religion is capitalism. Wishing you comfort where you can get it. My great grandfather worked hard, the son of immigrants, invested in stock and lost his money in the crash. I’m not into it, either.
Which crash? Grandfather is not the only one who lost money. What companies did he invest in? If the only one had been Coca-Cola, he would have done well. A little At&T and wowsers!!!!!
If you find out what the losers and the winners invest in and see how it worked for them, it helps judge what's good for you.
Don't you wish you had the income from even one share of Tesla? Or Amazon?
Me, too.
By owning a "basket" of stocks you protect yourself from losing all of it. And the profits of a winner are paid into your account w/o you lifting a finger.
Capitalism is how this country started and how it has lasted this long. The French monarchy needed cash for a war and sold the US the Louisiana Purchase,cheaply , to get the money. That's capitalism Shares are sold to raise money and the buyers decide if the world needs the products. .
My religion is of no consequence. But I fail to see the virtue in trying to lose your money by keeping it in the bank instead of growing it by learning and careful investing ,starting with a few hundred dollars and growing, but we all do what we must to protect ourselves, including not studying and learning. Good luck with that. Over and out.
My inlaws bought stock in two companies and framed the certificates when both failed. Which sometimes happens when you buy to support yr friends. My husband framed the certificates and bought one of the great companies. Big smile every time we received the dividend check.
Capitalism is what working for money is all about. We ALL are capitalists in some ways.
Come to think of it,, would you have been suckered into supporting a certain former president if he had offered you shares in a casino?
Now it's time to see which of my companies is paying well or needs to be sold and replaced. Casinos look good for short term, but only the ones my advisors suggest. My religion is not gambling, either, but if some want to gamble, I'll accept their money. You will enjoy what sounds like a bitter old ag b/c any govt. guarantees are dust. .
The stock market is highly manipulated (hedge fund managers etc) Without knowing someone’s finances and age and debt load, the stock market may not be the best choice. If a person is fairly young, they have more earnings ahead and can take more risk.
Hedge funds are way beyond my ken. I play in the kiddie pool.
I do remember days when you could see all that activity on the internet, but not recently. Maybe I'm too lazy to uncover it? I have a good internet advisor subscription, so if hedge funds were unsetting things I'm sure I'd read about it in a daily update.
Fear of risk is common. I'm old, and prefer not to risk that i will be homeless or hungry, so increase my income whenever possible in whatever way is legal and the path well trodden.
You really think Tesla, Facebook, Amazon etc are risks? I'm still learning, which is why i don't own any of those really big payers. Shoulda bought them when they came out but back then i had other interests.
But if war breaks out--and it could--the govt spending will pay you a dividend. Day to day, you can watch prices rise and fall. Pretty soon it becomes a sort of game to see if your today picks are beating the you of yesterday. A small investment. Is all it takes. A large one now for Amazon ($3000 +)and the other biggies, but there are plenty of others to choose from.
Dollar Store near you?
One of many companies that move into a community and suck the cash out of pockets of poorer people and send it to the home office, where some of it gets put in the stock portfolios of people who 'get it." I could buy their stock but don't b/c I have a conscience and try not to support companies that suck the lifeblood out of the pockets of my community and the people who don't have much to spend.
If W-M had not driven out of business multiple businesses in my county I would own their stock. Decades ago, I saw the first WM in Arkansas and told my husband we should buy it. He wouldn't. They posted their stock price on the wall in the store back then. But not now, when they have driven local businesses out, killing those entrepreneur investments in our communities. But if u patronize WM you might take an interest.
MJHooper ; I'm not unhappy with my situation and do not believe that the stock market is a good deal for me.
As you are entitled to feel. Now I need to read my forms and see how much i'l have to pay in federal taxes for my small holdings. Good luck with whatever rings ypur bells.
I believe workers carry more debt than investments, so inflation benefits workers. It hurts lenders more than borrowers. BooHoo
Lenders, with fixed interest rates, make less on existing fixed rate loans. New loans go for higher interest rates and variable interest rates on lines of credit, credit cards and home mortgages, the barrower pays more. There is a standard 3% profit gap on the lowest rate offered by lenders from the fed rate on secured loans. That is loans with collateral like homes and cars. As new loans get made, they again get the 3% gap. if the fed raises the rate 3 times at 1/4% each time, the gap becomes smaller to 2-1/4% but that will not hurt when most loans are short term. The 3% gap also exists in saves to loan rates. Unless the fed rate goes above 3%, banks will not give any batter interest rates to savers. Non securer personal loans have a 6% profit gap. Most workers, however, carry short tern variable rates on their credit cards with a 9-2/4 % margin that will go up when the fed raises rates. many of those consumers are getting charged 19% on their revolving credit while banks still get the money, they lend at close to 0%. This is why giving the workers more money, in the form of higher wages is better than raising the FED rates to banks that will just raise the consumers rates even more.
TKS for that analysis. It makes me think.
Laurie..how does that work? Interest rate hikes will help wealthier people? And not reg'ler folks who collect interest? If interest rates were decent, average ppl could collect morei interest on their savings/ R U Saying this is not good?
If interest rates go up, a lot of people could not afford to buy a home or even a car.
Interesting. How have almost 0% rates worked out for us so far? It hurts to think it, but if ppl don't have enough to buy a house, maybe they ought wait until they do have enough to buy one...instead of spending on the latest shining toy.
Some second or 3rd-hand cars are affordable and still get you to work on time. Frugality is not a "dirty" word.
Plenty of retirees w/ smaller incomes own smaller amounts of stock, too. As long as the company or the economy doesnt go bankrupt, the dividends keep trickling in.When they stop, get out and return if things improve.
My take is you don’t lose money unless you sell stock when they are worth less than you paid for them. I did buy a small amount of stock which dropped in value and I waited until I could break even before selling it. At retirement my 403B was converted to an IRA which I am required to take out money from every year, because apparently the government can’t survive without making me pay taxes on some of it every year. It is not a good replacement for the pension they promised me (considered part of my earnings). I have used it to subsidize my income, for things like dental care, car insurance, and other necessities. It is almost gone, but lucky for me, my son and his wife are taking me into their home. Not the retirement I had planned, but thankful I have that option.
B/c Democrat's don't have enough people in Congress to have the votes?
Why not instead implement a 50% discount/rebate policy at retail sale which would immediately double the purchasing power of every worker. In other words a minimum wage earner's purchasing power would go from $7.35/hr. to $14.70/hr. With this policy the enterprise does not have to increase its prices because of the increased cost of labor. This policy is also in the interests of both the consumer and businesses because it immediately potentially doubles the free and clear demand for every enterprise's goods and services. That makes it politically integrative. Remember, bankers and the financial industry are few and consumers and small to medium sized enterprises are many. Imagine a mass movement to implement this and other of the policies of a new monetary paradigm. You want change? Think paradigm change, not just palliative reforms.
Who would pay for the discount? The government? The department store? If the worker is paid a living wage of $14.70, the worker would pay for it with the value of their work and by the company that they work for. For capitalism to work, the capitalists' need to support the economy through good products from people that make good wages.
The monetary authority, namely the FED or another authority mandated to do so. The rebate is money, not debt created in the same way we have idiotically allowed the private banking system to create money except only in the monopolistic form of Debt presently does...simply by accounting debits and credits. In the discount/rebate policy the retailer creates an account labeled Sales Discounts/Rebates which has a normal credit balance and the monetary authority debits the exact amount of the credit balance to make the retailer whole on their overheads and profit margins. There is no need for the FED to create bonds to cover reserves as is normally needed when money is created as debt...because monetary gifts are their own reserves in that there is no need to repay them...as there is in the case of money creaeted as debt. And of course as retail sale is the terminal ending point of the entire economic process and thus by definition the terminal expression point for all costs like inflation, even if you have 7% inflation which we (temporarily) have now a 50% discount to every consumer product would mean you actually had (almost miraculously) 43% BENEFICIAL price deflation. When you get past all the the contradictory economic orthodoxy of present economic theory and see the temporal universe effects of the new monetary paradigm "the scales literally fall from your eyes."
I already shop sales and look for deep discounts on the list price of things. many do not have the time or even know what an item is worth. Yes, I agree with the premise that looking for value is great. i buy Value stocks because they trade at a discount. I buy a second hand 18-month-old car because the car is retailing at 50% of the new car price and will last 10 years weather brand new or slightly used. Finding the deals is the secret because no retailer wants you to know they have a "Back stage" except Macys.
Thrift and frugality are economic and personal virtues. Nobody is trying to deny you that kind of behavior. But that is also not a valid excuse for not critiquing or ignoring the massive negative effects of allowing private finance the dominating power of a monopoly paradigm for the creation and distribution of money. Monopolies are ALWAYS problematic whether in economics or any other area of human endeavor.
I hope all of you including Dr Reich got that post. New paradigm concepts, when actually "seen" change everything in one's mind and in the entire pattern or patterns they apply to.
We really need to stop pretending as if our officials and institutions make decisions for their publicly stated reason. The Fed and Federal Government do what rich lobbyists and companies want them to do. The "news" focuses on clicks and views, not accountability or truth. Elected officials do represent, but it's their wealthiest donors and whatever perspective will keep them in power that day. Education strives to inform, as long as it also indoctrinates. We're never going to rebuild based on truth unless we all stop holding onto and propping up the lies that got us here.
Yes. Like why is the service of the person who collects our garbage less valuable than that of a CEO, which in my opinion usually serve themselves. We are told certain people deserve high income but the average person doesn’t even deserve a living wage. And most of us bought into that. Why are police and firemen ( people risking their lives every day) and EMT’s ( people who our lives are in their hands) less deserving of a good paycheck than others? Why are people who care for other people’s children, daycare workers underpaid? Why are teachers underpaid? Teachers are doing important service shaping the citizens of our future. To me they are more valuable than a CEO. But we bought the idea we who serve are not as worthy as others. At the hospital I worked at, the CEO made more than the doctors, who, at that time, had office hours, saw hospital inpatients, had to do on-call, and consults. Expensive education and hard working. With a tremendous amount of responsibility. Yet the CEO was guaranteed lucrative severance pay before he was even hired. Payed huge salaries and benefits. They got paid to increase profits (sometimes amazing ignorant of the companies they work for) and often do that by keeping employees pay low, layoffs, buying shoddy supplies (no savings there in the long run) etc. and then they get a nice bonus. Meanwhile the employees are the ones that are making the money for the (in my case) hospital, while working short staffed with shoddy supplies. But, as children, we were brainwashed into believing some were of less value and deserved less. So I guess I am a democratic socialist, which means everyone is of value and at the very least should be able to earn a living wage. And capitalism with no restraints is dangerous. In a democracy unrestrained power leads to an autocracy.
Probably should start with Jekyll Islands truth, as to who really owns the Fed!
Jekyll Island? Seriously? Hasn't tht been debunkedmay times over?
Formation of The Fed history is hardly debunked…
History, yes I agree. But "The Creature of Jekyll Island" is mostly conjecture. I am going to tackle "The Lords of Easy Money." Have you read it?
Plantation economy?
Perhaps we need to somehow find solutions that don’t depend on our officials to work on behalf of the working class? At least we need to take a deep dive into the possibility that such solutions exist outside of their control.
Completely agree. From the climate crisis to campaign finance reform to workers' rights, I think we have to admit our commitment to ineffective, top-down approaches to change just doesn't work...or at least these things won't work in time. Resistance from the ground up may be the only way forward.
Yes, and that is why we need to stop trying to fight with the numerous mere palliative reforms that albeit correct...are reductionistic in effect. What is needed is a new paradigm concept and its applicable policies...because a new paradigm by definition and in fact changes the nature of AN ENTIRE PATTERN OR PATTERNS. And then we need to start a mass movement to communicate the benefits of that paradigm change.
Who is "we," Tonto?
All of us, and anyone with the good sense to understand their own self interests and the guts to stand up to finance which in the prescient words of Senator Dick Durbin when describing who controls the senate said: "The banks own the joint."
I couldn’t agree more! I believe that paradigm would likely involve looking at democracy through the lens of “quality culture.”
Quite right. The philosophical concept behind the new monetary paradigm is grace as in love in action (the applicable aspect of which is gifting). However, (and without having to jump through any pre-scientific or religious hoops) the concept of grace is the most integrative and universally applicable concepts humanity has ever awakened to. Love and its active form, graciousness, is what enabled humans to rise above the mere struggle for survival and become aware of ethics and morality. It is also, legitmately, the pinnacle concept of every one of the world's wisdom traditions. And a true wisdom insight isn't just airy-fairie thinking its the most pragmatic distillation of thought and ETHICAL action applicable to any specific situation in life. If we want democracy to work as it is intended then we should start by changing the monetary paradigm to grace as in monetary gifting. The ensuing problem resolutions and psychological uplift could only help the good will and faith necessary for partisan political cooperation in a democracy to work.
…and the gateway to ethical action is empathy. K-12 SEL training along training in managing democracy would politically revolutionize our national culture in one generation.
Yes, SEL aligns perfectly with the the concept of grace as in friendliness, cooperation and understanding.
In some industries, the problem is a lack of qualified workers to fill the "good" jobs that are available. This is particularly true for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) jobs, and skilled tradesmen jobs (plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc.). We have plenty of talented people in this country who could qualify for these jobs with the proper training, but for some reason we are failing miserably to train them. Why isn't addressing this problem a priority for those in Washington (like the Department of Labor?).
My son was a skilled mechanic making pretty good money, but when his bride was in nursing school she needed health insurance which was expensive as provided by her college. So he looked for work and quickly found a job that had better pay and offered an insurance plan that cost $300/month for both of them. He makes $30/hour, drives a company truck with paid mileage within a 200 mile radius. They trained him for the work on technical forklifts and elevators for storage of small items in a warehouse. Some industries are helping solve the problem of technical training, it seems.
Robert isn't there. And the republicans would do every thing to hobble him if he was.
I wish he was. IMHO, he was the best Secretary of Labor we ever had.
Maybe because the vagaries of q4y elections don't allow for a coherent and cohesive all hands on deck, economic plan? The 4 yr prudential term might have saved our half-cooked bacon since the nation's founding , but not now. With honorable persons being elected tor maybe 8 years the stability would help get long-term and major plans enacted. Call this what is is. We again have a plantation economy. Thanks to nearly a century of scheming and planning by the wealthy and the politically powerful wingers to turn the country into one giant plantation. Think about what that means and see why some feel a revolution is in order, but are un-willing to do it the way the media propagandized armed and dangerous meatheads want and try to do it. Is it time for the revenge of the nerds?????
"presidential term"is what I typed. If computers can make changes like that, what else are they doing to help bring the nation to 3rd world status?
Don't look now, but >that< may be the "revenge of the nerds" you're talkin' 'bout! LOL!
Good point! There are days I'm sure my laptop hates me. My computer guy says no, but maybe Im not sure about him, either. I do know the computer programs know more about me than I like.
Hell! What about your bank and credit card companies, not to mention health-care providers? I >really< get impatient with people who bang on about "big brother" & privacy when a government institution, as innocuous as the Census, tries to even verify their names!
I am not worried about the government. I worry about corporate data mining. If the government wants info on a person they just buy it off of Facebook, Tic Tok, Ancestry or anyone of a thousand other sources. It is illegal for the government to collect this information but not for corporations. Read the TOS, (Terms of Service) and you will find that you have no rights to keep your data safe or to keep it from being sold. The reason the TOS is so lengthy is that the average human gets tired of reading after 20-30 pages of a 800 page document.
Until recently i didn't realize how much info there is about us on the internet. Makes us all easy targets.
Ha ha! I hate my smartphone when I send a message that is not what I typed! AI is messing with me?!
God forbid we ever really get TRUE AI! It might just get the idea we are useless and remove most of the human race except for those that are required to do maintenance. :-)
Good idea, but how? Violence is a dead end. We are 'out-armed'.
Rethuglicans?
Professor, When, a few days ago, I advocated for an Explainer-in-Chief, I did so with the understanding that we have but a small window to affect the mood of the country if, next fall, we’re to have a shot at retaining both the House and the Senate. As much as I, fellow subscribers, and your students benefit from your perceptive and accessible calls for public accountability for institutions that have a disproportionate amount of wealth, power, and influence, I would take heart from knowing you had a broader reach that actually could contribute to bridging the unseemly gap between those who own and control and those who do not.
Barbara I too am awaiting for an Explainer-in -chief. The past few months it has been like waiting for Godot. I would like very much to see this days Reich article on the front page of every newspaper and on every audio and TV news source as a counter to what seems misinformed or purposeful biased presentation.
Yes!
Sorry, professor Reich, but no one in power is listening. Nothing will fix the economy until we clean out our political system. And you know what the chances of that happening are....
Vote! Vote! Vote!
Eric: Ideally you are right, of course, but who counts and tallies those vote? A. Einstein said: "not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted".
I work our local polls every election, and have audited recounts. I still see relatively low turnout in off year elections. I help ensure counts count and all politics is local.
Turnout in 2018 was huge for an off year. We need to dial down the cynicism and encourage people to understand how these off-year elections effect real change.
Julie ; Good point!
Disheartening.
Eugene Abravanel ; Einstein helped to make the Atomic bomb! He was smart, but how much does that count?
Einstein only worked the math, E=Mc2, and warned Roosevelt that the Nazis were working to build a bomb. Scientists on the project were forbidden from consulting with Einstein. Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the laboratory and is among those who are credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb.” Hence his later comment from the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
Ladybug ; I had read that Einstein worked on the Manhattan project and was part of the development of the atomic bomb. E=Mc2 was the formula; energy times the mass times the speed of light squared, that allowed this development. Did the Nazis have that formula? was Oppenheimer the wartime head of the Manhattan Project? Just curious. I had read that Einstein was part of the Manhattan project. Our schooling is incomplete. We are left to make assumptions. I had read that one of 'the bomb' developers had committed suicide. Was that Oppenheimer?
Einstein did not work on the Manhattan project due to pacifist tendencies. The Nazis did not have the E=Mc2 formula. They were still working to find it at that time. I believe there were suicides related to the atomic bomb, but Oppenheimer was not one of them. Oppenheimer died in 1967 at the age of 62 having attended several noted universities. He was quite clumsy in the laboratory and his work was more theoretical than anything else.
Eugene Abravanel ; If they start losing money, they may pay attention. The supply chain thing shows that there is a cost to 'outsourcing'. Making things here in America may be a better deal as time goes by. Change is the only constant.
No one in power is listening. But the people have more power than they realize. It is good to see unions being boosted by the current president, too. There would be a 'sea change' if the people could get the information needed for a nonviolent revolution. Just boycotting some of the big companies could get results.
You hit the nail on the head - but god forbid billionaire companies pay a decent living wage.
This will be interesting to watch. I hope more people can strike against poor wages.
Wholeheartedly agree. However need to pitch in the additional corkscrew that training of the general population, both before & during their working years, in this country, to impolitely put it, "sucks."
I also lament the lack of a more traditional European educational model & the common, more thorough "training" of the general community as citizens in general with the addition of their higher cultural standards with higher regard for developing expertise in any category of work.
Harvey Graff who posted here brings up an interesting point for discussion: this idea that the phrase "the workers" is outdated. I respect the term in good measure due to its roots in the dissection of capitalism by Marx & Engels along with the 1930's generations that were willing to fight for exploration of these lines of thinking & support the construction of unions. However when I hear the term now I think of "worker bees" in a hive "subservient" to human "kings & queens." Think there is something to uncovering a less divisive & more power infusing term -- currently the classist implication of the term, while accurate, is backfiring . . .
Wendy ; If it's worker bees, maybe it's time they get stung.
The Fed has never understood the intersection of politics and economics. And it reflects historically the poverty of both fields in the modern American university and the polity. The UK, by contrast, has esp. at Oxford and Cambridge a distinguished major called PPE: Politics Philosophy Economics. More leading scholars, political and other leaders than you can count graduated from those programs. Our problems, as usual, are cultural, social, political and economic.
The Fed fails most Americans, not just the "workers." Pls let's talk about "almost" ALL AMERICANS. the language "the workers" largely expired after WWII and certainly by the 1950s. Even Bernie knows this.
On yesterday's thread about unions, I want to add: since the 1950s most (not all) US unions have hurt themselves by turning inward and overfocussing on $ for themselves and losing sight of their broader historical roles and losing interest not only in broader social and political issues but also in organizing their brothers and sisters. At this point, I'll before criticizing robert's and my fellow academics for our wholesale failures to help students and staff organize or to unionize ourselves in most states.
I have zero academic training in economics. Maybe that’s why my vision for the USA is as an economic unit whose job is to enable “the general prosperity.” Instead, we live in a culture of toxic competition as exemplified by our favorite sport, football, a sport in which players destroy their brains and then sue their employer for unsafe working conditions. Our Mother Culture is also called The Matrix, which is by its nature, invisible except to those who intentionally dive deeper. Thanks, Harvey, for bringing up this lack of economic and cultural understanding for our consideration.
Your news letters are always so damn depressing because there is absolutely nothing more that I can personally do to change the direction this country has been going since Ronald Reagan was President. Corporate fascism is on our door step with its steal toed boot wedged against our ability to stop it.
Register Democrats. https://democrats.org/
And dont let the wingers take over the system, as they seem to be doing. Time for the firebrands to awake more forcefully?
and Ronald Reagan started it. don't whitewash his administration.
Lewis Powell started it with the Powell Memorandum sent to the US Chamber of Commerce in 1971.
I need a new car and was looking at maybe getting an actual “new” car for once. The quote ended up being +$5k over MSRP because the dealership knows there’s a shortage of new cars. They call it “market pricing”, not even trying to hide that they are jacking up the pricing because of supply bottlenecks and because they can.
I understand they’re selling fewer cars and making less profit which sucks for the individual dealership lenders, but why isn’t the CEO of Honda marching down to DC to demand a fix to the supply bottlenecks? (could it be: because it doesn’t affect their compensation?)
Much of the supply chain woes are due to Covid lockdowns. So we should put the blame for that markup of $5000 on a virus. We just paid $3000 over MSRP for a new Subaru. That is standard pricing at the 4 dealers in our region. It was the only Crosstrek available now for the next "4 to 13 weeks".
But....we sold our 4.5 year old Honda for $2000 more than we bought it for new. We were driving for free. Silver lining if you have a low to moderate mileage vehicle in good shape to sell. Carmax and Cargurus (the latter offered more, came to the house, drove it away, money in the bank in 24 hours).
While I follow that inflation is being caused by worldwide bottlenecks and market concentration of big corporations, I do not follow why raising interest rates necessarily slows the economy. Is it simply that most people carry so much credit card debt, that any interest rate increase jumps their minimum monthly payments and they have even less money to buy the things they need? Or people with some money shift some of it into savings instead of having to put it by necessity into the stock market? If so, what does really say about the state of our economy to begin with. I'm no economist, and I certainly don't understand a lot of the nuances that are background for today's newsletter, but, as I've mentioned before, I haven't seen any basic improvement in the US economy or the well-being of our citizens since the late 70's. Sure, we have a lot more gadgets, but the basics like education, infrastructure, healthcare and other measures of our standard of living have not improved much, if at all, and in some cases, are worse for many of us. The economic meltdown and political fiascos of 2008 exposed it, and now the pandemic has shown how our economy does not work at all for our marginalized and poorer communities. Just my two cents here.
There is a reason that the birth rate is lowering. Young people are putting off having children until they get 'on their feet'. But the prize of a home is getting further from their reach.
See my comment about Peggy Lee, elsewhere here. I certainly didn't see the point - and I'm an old coot!
The biggest problem is that corporations and executives owning politicians. End Citizens United and get money out of politics.
We can’t be in an eternal super low interest rate either. The flip side is no money savings incentives. And retired people should be able to earn a little bit for their savings to help out. It seem, Robert Reich, you’re looking at the debt side. But what about savings? I’m sick and tired of earning 10 cents a month on thousands of dollars. People must have some incentive to save. Most people have the bulk of retirement funds in the stock market. That needs to change too.
In economics class I think i recall learning that money has to be making money. Saving is a waste , especially now, as interest rates paid dont keep up with inflation.
Better to invest in the companies that produce the products the nation wants to buy. I suggest electricity, big war equipment, lithium mining, gold mining (not newfangled recently created kinds of financial investments, until they prove their worth). elder care.. Real Estate investment trusts. Pot. Breweries. Infrastructure materials needed. Food. Even 1 share --to start--of Tesla, amazon, Meta. Tobacco. Drugs. Heart equipment makers. But those are just my choices...I should live long enough to buy stock in all of those companies. Just be sure to be prescient enough not to buy buggy whip factories. But do buy real estate investment trusts. People have to live, shop, do govt business in buildings. REITs rent to the govt, and pretty much govt always pays the rent.
I think part of what's behind what Dr. Reich describes as a "shortage of good jobs" is the changing of our technologies and the attempt to wean off those things relating to climate change. If we phase out use of fossil fuels, for example, that's a whole industry of jobs to be lost. COVID does contribute to the problem in many ways, but I think changing technologies is a larger, farther-reaching reason. Training people for jobs in these new technologies should be part of a "Green New Deal." Though I am retired, I feel overwhelmed just using this computer and the internet!
I agree, we need to get people trained now. I’d be surprised if it isn’t in GND.
We have an economy, a world economy, a culture, measured by the accumulation of Capital! Until that changes everything else we do is peeing on a forest fire. It started when Kings invented coins for use in paying taxes and went on steroids with the invention of the joint-stock company. Adam Smith thought desire and demand would become satiated. The joint-stock company proved that theory wrong. What is happening to our economy today is bigger than the Federal reserve. It has become the snake that eats its own tail! It is the myth of the apocalypse, an end and a new beginning to follow.