patrick.net

Heraclitusstudent says

They are priced out and will remain so jobs or not.

No, I'm quite certain JOBS are a big piece of the missing puzzle here.

lahossain says

Maybe I'd better state it as an increasingly disproportionate of GDP growth going to the top 1%.

Yes through cronyism

lahossain says

Relative increases in spending and earnings of one group don't speak to the division of the pie.

What do you mean?

indigenous says

Relative increases in spending and earnings of one group don't speak to the division of the pie.

I mean that just because workers spending and earnings have gone up as you proved through BLS data, that's hardly the fully story without knowing how the uber-wealthy's went up.

I am more interested in earnings growth relative to the others, in this case the rich/execs, in the system, as that will determine relative purchasing power and political influence.

lahossain says

I mean that just because workers spending and earnings have gone up as you proved through BLS data, that's hardly the fully story without knowing how the uber-wealthy's went up.

The point that Reich made is not true. That is what we are talking about.

Additionally the household income trope is also not true as personal income has gone up. What they fail to mention is that household income is cut in half with a divorce which has gone up significantly over the past 30 years.

lahossain says

I am more interested in earnings growth relative to the others, in this case the rich/execs, in the system, as that will determine relative purchasing power and political influence.

Keep in mind that the people at the top change names often, you are simply comparing categories which is meaningless. With the caveat of cronyism.

There has always been income disparity and there always will be. But that too is subject to Reich tropes as it has more to do with tax reporting not that the income changed. Do you want me to riddle you that as well?

The real problem is conjecture which does not stand up to the facts. The uneducated (not that I am but I do know which way is up) are easy prey for Reich and his ilk who make their living by creating the straw man.

indigenous says

The uneducated (not that I am but I do know which way is up) are easy prey for Reich and his ilk who make their living by creating the straw man.

I guess that we will just have to agree to disagree here. GINI coefficient and so many other metrics point to this. One can place the numbers to tell the story that jibes with their world view at the end of the day. I can only match the stats I see with the anecdotes and trends that I personally witness in my daily life. And it's as clear as day.

How do you explain the sudden demand and rise for these moonlighting/self-employment gigs--- Lyft, Instacart, Uber-x, Task-rabbit--that leverage the growing ranks of under/un-employed?

BTW, income inequality is natural and expected--the rate of change that it has turned into this, I'm sorry, is a black blotch on this history of American policy--since now it's riddled with cronyism, a revolving door on K-street, big money lobbies, and corporate welfare policies.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/QPKKQnijnsM

Go ahead, call it propaganda. I don't think that so many people can be wrong. I lament the American public's ability to get over the shame of asking for a fairer deal. Steinbeck had it so right: "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

lahossain says

I guess that we will just have to agree to disagree here. GINI coefficient and so many other metrics point to this. One can place the numbers to tell the story that jibes with their world view at the end of the day. I can only match the stats I see with the anecdotes and trends that I personally witness in my daily life. And it's as clear as day.

Yes the GINI index is bogus as well.

The advent of Task Rabbet et al are no doubt from a changing economy because of growth in government and changes in technology.

I have demonstrated that spending as not shrank I can also demonstrate that until recently the inequality has not changed either.

The recent change is as Reality indicates because of cronyism. The government has attracted investment that otherwise would go to organic investments. Also the regulations have scared off investment very similar to FDR with similar results.

Socialism didn't take root because government had not grown at that time.

You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts, which do not support your memes.

Yes it is amazing that so many people believe them but how else to explain Hitler's rise to power or irrational exuberance of the housing bubble or the tulip bubble? Or the fall of Argentina or the USSR?

Take a look at this idea: people naturally exchange willingly according to their own best interest. The only way this cannot occur is when an exchange is forced. All government exchanges are force all free market exchanges are through cooperation. The only way things can become this far out of reconciliation is through force.

indigenous says

The only way this cannot occur is when an exchange is forced. All government exchanges are force all free market exchanges are through cooperation. The only way things can become this far out of reconciliation is through force.

You really are going to stand behind the idea that we are living in a free market? Clearly the big boys need some reigning in. Anyways, I bow out. If you don't want to accept GINI coefficients as meaningful (in fact you write it off as "bogus"), I'm not sure what figures and methodologies are satisfactory.

Are you a libertarian follower of Paul Ryan's and his system of budgeting?

You're pretty didactic in your approach on this forum. Concede something once in a while---it makes you more credible.

lahossain says

You really are going to stand behind the idea that we are living in a free market?

About the 10th freest in the world

lahossain says

Clearly the big boys need some reigning in.

They need to weaned off the public tit

lahossain says

If you don't want to accept GINI coefficients as meaningful

Relevant data that is not a straw man, which means you have to ignore main stream media. The problem is that the straw man meme is so ubiquitous that it takes some educating to see what really is. I recommend reading some of the stuff on at the Mises org to at least consider the other side of the story.

lahossain says

Are you a libertarian follower of Paul Ryan's and his system of budgeting?

It is a start but orders of magnitude short of what needs to be addressed.

lahossain says

You're pretty didactic in your approach on this forum.

Yup call me Joe Friday, the facts is the facts, which are rare in the incessant ubiquitous memes.