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The Economy

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by TigerVols, May 14, 2020.

Page 259 of 455
  1. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Sounds good to me, but what is/was the driving force as to why it changed?

    Companies started offering health insurance not because they wanted to be nice, but because of wage and price controls in the 1940s, they needed some kind of perk to lure workers.
    They offered pensions in the boom times as well as a recruitment tactic.

    Pensions died. Health insurance, while not worthless, offers much less than it did.

    Companies ostensibly are in high demand for workers again. Why aren't they offering anything tangible as a perk?

    Or have we devolved so badly into a service economy that the pool of "qualified" (albeit not very skilled) candidates is so huge that it's just a matter of companies waiting them out until they are desperate enough for an income?
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2023
    BTExpress, Jul 5, 2023
    #3097
    tea and ease likes this.
  2. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    I would be more than happy to pay more for groceries if it meant children weren't working to produce them. I figured most people would agree and not give 1,000 words explaining the economic conditions that brought about the need for child labor.
     
    Regan MacNeil, Jul 5, 2023
    #3098
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I think we should all agree that cancer sucks. But under no circumstances should we ever be looking at causes and effects and trying to understand how known carcinogens (that we stupidly created ourselves) are causing cancer. We should have scorn for a person who does that. ... and try to shut them up by telling everyone else that they are in favor of cancer.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2023
    The Big Ragu, Jul 5, 2023
    #3099
  4. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Azrael, Jul 5, 2023
    #3100
    OscarMadison likes this.
  5. DanielSimpsonDay

    DanielSimpsonDay Well-Known Member

    we all need to eat our fedgetables
     
    DanielSimpsonDay, Jul 5, 2023
    #3101
  6. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    Look, we all agree cigarettes cause lung cancer. But can't you understand WHY companies were driven to maximize profits by making hundreds of millions of people addicted to their product?
     
    Regan MacNeil, Jul 5, 2023
    #3102
  7. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Bootstraps - Etsy
     
    Azrael, Jul 5, 2023
    #3103
  8. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member


    Divergence begins right about the time "cut/copy and paste" were invented. The greatest "productivity" invention since the assembly line.
     
    BTExpress, Jul 5, 2023
    #3104
  9. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    I forgot that when CEO and upper management's wages spike, but workers' wages don't, that's OK, because some CEO getting a $5 million raise doesn't spark inflation, but some average Joe getting a bump from $25 to $27 an hour leads to catastrophe.
     
    micropolitan guy, Jul 5, 2023
    #3105
    OscarMadison and Driftwood like this.
  10. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    We’re jumping all over the place now! But I’ll play on this one.

    Have you considered what that graph might look like if instead of focusing on wages ("hourly pay"), you looked at productivity relative to total compensation (contributions to pension funds, private medical insurance, FICA taxes, etc)?

    Because. ...

    [​IMG]

    Also, there is a real flaw in that "analysis" that Marty Feldstein got to the heart of, well before the EPI decided to jump in (that supposed decoupling of wages and productivity began in the 1970s, so it is not like the EPI was pointing out something that hasn't been looked at ad nauseum since I was in my teens).

    https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/2794832/feld_wages.pdf

    Deflating wages using government CPI data might tell you how people's standards of living are holding up. But you shouldn't use that as a down and dirty way to analyze compensation, the way the EPI did in that thing you linked to. Companies get paid for what they produce. Workers are paid to produce. ... not to consume. So why would you use the CPI as a deflator for their wages? Shouldn't you use the GDP deflator instead (which includes all goods and services produced in the economy)?

    To compare productivity and worker wages accurately, shouldn't you convert both measures using the same price index (what they don't do, because there is no easy way to do it)? If you don't do that. ... you're comparing apples and oranges.

    And. ... In fact, the difference between the CPI and the GDP deflator during the time period they are talking about is enormous (CPI multiplied by more than 10 between 1947 and 2022; the GDP deflator multiplied by less than 6.5). Is it possible that the gap. ... is just the gap between the two in their "methodology"?
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2023
    The Big Ragu, Jul 5, 2023
    #3106
  11. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Azrael, Jul 5, 2023
    #3107
  12. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    "compensation"

    You mean the part where I pay for the social programs to keep WalMart employees afloat from month to month?

    I think there's probably so much "compensation" on the high end of American business (tech, finance, etc.) and so little on the low end that it muddles the notion of "compensation" to meaninglessness.
     
    Azrael, Jul 5, 2023
    #3108
    2muchcoffeeman likes this.
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