“Understanding corporate sponsored academic pedigrees gives us an enlightened perspective on puppet libertarians and the Powell Cabal. Corporations can only thrive through the protections of strong government, as Alexander Hamilton was quick to point out as the first Federalist. Yet puppet libertarians fault government as the biggest impediment to a free market. If that sounds [...]
In the spirit of teachable moments I got sidetracked from a labor contract theme, related to Essay 4 in Systems out of Balance, to respond to a claim coming from the Powell Cabal that we are moving towards socialism with our growing welfare entitlements. Keep in mind that when the Powell Cabal talks about welfare [...]
As a former teacher I learned well the value of teachable moments. As I glanced at my “Morning Bell” this morning I was ecstatic to see that The Heritage Foundation had packaged for me a teachable moment in relation to yesterday’s graph on health insurance costs. Recall that this “free market” think tank is a [...]
Some folks may think I made too big a deal over pension costs; that in the grand scheme of things it is but a small entrapment. However, I have witnessed people become absolutely miserable because they stayed with the same employer to maximize their pension. And little things add up; pensions are not the only [...]
Continue reading about Labor Contract Entrapments – Health Insurance Costs
The fact that minimum wages can be held down so low (see here) is a testament to the position of great strength that business corporations have in regards to the labor contract, a strength granted in part through lobbyists and government. Business corporations have other means as well besides government legislation to strengthen their position. [...]
Continue reading about Labor Contract Entrapments – Pension Commentary
The graph below tracks the ratio of pension costs to annual mean wages and salaries, both obtained from the Statistical Abstracts. Unfortunately, pension costs obtained from consumer surveys do not go all the way back to 1974, the base year used to determine impacts of the Powell Cabal. Right Click on Graph for Better Image [...]
Continue reading about Labor Contract Entrapments – Pension Graph
Business corporations negotiate labor contracts from a position of far superior strength than the laborers at the bottom rung of the labor hierarchy. This enables them to pay bottom prices in wages in order to maximize the bottom line of capital gains for shareholders. Governments, both state and federal, set a limit to how far [...]
Middle class laborers are more likely to have unselfish motives that they equate with their self-interest; middle class laborers are more likely to be influenced by obligations to family and other factors outside of markets. Consequently, middle class laborers are more likely to have sacrificed something when they pursue self-interests of greed in the market. [...]
Whenever I can I like to head off trouble before it starts. In reaction to the graphs I have recently included, and will continue to include, I could be accused of data mining. Since I consider myself a scientist, not a scholar, accusing me of data mining is an insult. Please allow me to defend [...]
In the course of doing research for Systems out of Balance I had several “spit out your coffee” moments. One of these occurred as I read about the mission of the Boskin Commission. Put together by the think tank known as the Hoover Institution, this commission was charged in 1995 with discovering flaws in the [...]