http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/14/obama.minister/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Can someone please tell me what all the hubbub is about?
Will there ever come a time when it's not sedition to suggest that it's a little unfair for us to base all kinds of murderous shennanigans on September 11th as if we were just minding our own business, not harming anyone from 1945 to 2001?
Not to say "those people deserved it," but just as a matter of questiong our perceived role in the world as moral compass of the past century?
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Executive Pay
Check out this report:
http://www.faireconomy.org/files/ExecutiveExcess2007.pdf
Some highlights:
The average pay of Fortune 500 CEOs ($10.8 million, based on a survey of 386 companies) is 364 times the pay of the average American worker. This ratio was as high as 525 in 2000 during the high-tech boom but was "only" 107 in 1990.
The average pay of the 20 highest paid private equity and hedge fund managers ($657.5 million) is 22,255 times the pay of the average worker.
Over the past decade, inflation-adjusted CEO pay has increased 45%, while inflation-adjusted average worker pay grew just 7% and the hourly minimum wage declined in real value by 7%.
The average pay of the 20 highest paid American CEOs ($36.4 million) is almost 3 times the average pay of the 20 highest paid European CEOs ($12.5 million).
http://www.faireconomy.org/files/ExecutiveExcess2007.pdf
Some highlights:
The average pay of Fortune 500 CEOs ($10.8 million, based on a survey of 386 companies) is 364 times the pay of the average American worker. This ratio was as high as 525 in 2000 during the high-tech boom but was "only" 107 in 1990.
The average pay of the 20 highest paid private equity and hedge fund managers ($657.5 million) is 22,255 times the pay of the average worker.
Over the past decade, inflation-adjusted CEO pay has increased 45%, while inflation-adjusted average worker pay grew just 7% and the hourly minimum wage declined in real value by 7%.
The average pay of the 20 highest paid American CEOs ($36.4 million) is almost 3 times the average pay of the 20 highest paid European CEOs ($12.5 million).
"World's Most Prosperous Nation"?
I would like to point out a few more statistics that I believe shed light on the failures of right-wing economic policy and ideology. Specifically, they pertain to international and historical comparisons regarding our labor productivity.
First, we like to tout ourselves as the "world's most prosperous nation." http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070531-9.html. Even if we ignore the massive asterisk of our unparalleled economic inequality ("first you must ignore that which is unignorable"), this is not necessarily true. Actually, in 2006 Norway had the highest GDP per capita, but we were number 2 so I guess that's close enough. (Note: now Ireland has a higher GDP per capita, and if you want to include Luxembourg as a country, so do they.) See http://www.bls.gov/fls/flsgdp.pdf, Table 1. But scroll down to Table 4. Turns out for 2006 we were behind 4 other countries in GDP per hour worked (after Norway, which was by far the highest, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France; I'm sure now we are behind Ireland as well). Not that #5 or 6 is so bad, but I think this seriously calls into question the idea that we are the "world's most prosperous nation." After all, leisure has significant value as well, and obviously we have way less of it here.
Another way to see the fact that our economic prosperity indicators are inflated due to relative overworking is to compare median household income growth since the beginning of the Reagan era to the increase in hours worked over the same period. Our median household GDP increased 14.5% from 1980-2002, from $45,647 to $52,285. See http://www.epi.org/datazone/06/median_income.pdf. But the average hours worked for middle-income married couples with children age 25-54 has increased 17.1% over the same period, from 3,046 to 3,567. See http://www.epi.org/datazone/06/wrk_hrs_hus_wif.pdf. So for the typical middle-income family, it would appear that all of the increase in income over the Reagan & post-Reagan era is a mere reflection of an increase in hours worked.
But as we know, the real problem with our economy isn't that it's not productive. Our recent productivity growth has been strong, and classical economic theory tells us that increases in productivity should lead to proportional increases in wages. But it hasn't. U.S. manufacturing productivity has increased 182% since 1980, but manufacturing wages have only increased 32% over the same period. See ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ForeignLabor/prodsuppt01.txt and ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ForeignLabor/prodsuppt13.txt. So I guess the bottom line is that we cannot try to justify our immoral economic system on the grounds that it produces wealth on a scale unheard of elsewhere. It produces great wealth, no question, but not necessarily any more wealth than social democratic economies produce. And recent productivity growth has served to swell corporate profits instead of increasing wages or hour-adjusted average household income.
First, we like to tout ourselves as the "world's most prosperous nation." http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070531-9.html. Even if we ignore the massive asterisk of our unparalleled economic inequality ("first you must ignore that which is unignorable"), this is not necessarily true. Actually, in 2006 Norway had the highest GDP per capita, but we were number 2 so I guess that's close enough. (Note: now Ireland has a higher GDP per capita, and if you want to include Luxembourg as a country, so do they.) See http://www.bls.gov/fls/flsgdp.pdf, Table 1. But scroll down to Table 4. Turns out for 2006 we were behind 4 other countries in GDP per hour worked (after Norway, which was by far the highest, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France; I'm sure now we are behind Ireland as well). Not that #5 or 6 is so bad, but I think this seriously calls into question the idea that we are the "world's most prosperous nation." After all, leisure has significant value as well, and obviously we have way less of it here.
Another way to see the fact that our economic prosperity indicators are inflated due to relative overworking is to compare median household income growth since the beginning of the Reagan era to the increase in hours worked over the same period. Our median household GDP increased 14.5% from 1980-2002, from $45,647 to $52,285. See http://www.epi.org/datazone/06/median_income.pdf. But the average hours worked for middle-income married couples with children age 25-54 has increased 17.1% over the same period, from 3,046 to 3,567. See http://www.epi.org/datazone/06/wrk_hrs_hus_wif.pdf. So for the typical middle-income family, it would appear that all of the increase in income over the Reagan & post-Reagan era is a mere reflection of an increase in hours worked.
But as we know, the real problem with our economy isn't that it's not productive. Our recent productivity growth has been strong, and classical economic theory tells us that increases in productivity should lead to proportional increases in wages. But it hasn't. U.S. manufacturing productivity has increased 182% since 1980, but manufacturing wages have only increased 32% over the same period. See ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ForeignLabor/prodsuppt01.txt and ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ForeignLabor/prodsuppt13.txt. So I guess the bottom line is that we cannot try to justify our immoral economic system on the grounds that it produces wealth on a scale unheard of elsewhere. It produces great wealth, no question, but not necessarily any more wealth than social democratic economies produce. And recent productivity growth has served to swell corporate profits instead of increasing wages or hour-adjusted average household income.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Vatican Swings (to the Left)
For those of you not on the Vatican's mailing list, I thought I'd mention that Pope Benedict must have been reading his Marx, because he came out with seven new "social sins," four of which are sound socialist policy, and three of which are extremely silly.
Without further ado, the new seven social sins are:
1. "Bioethical' violations ala birth control
2. "Morally dubious'' experiments ala stem cell research
3. Drug abuse
4. Polluting the environment
5. Contributing to the increasing disparity between rich and poor
6. Excessive wealth
7. Creating poverty
Room for Legalized Prostitution in Those 40 Points?
The legalization of marijuana is somehwere in that list.
Taking a hint from the latest sex scandal headlines, I thought I would ask the committee about how the reformed US economy and justice system sees prostitution.
Taking a hint from the latest sex scandal headlines, I thought I would ask the committee about how the reformed US economy and justice system sees prostitution.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Two Birds, One Stone: A Solution for Rational Utility Maximizers
So, I was just having a conversation about the best way to persecute Mormons and I had a tremendous idea: mass imprisonment. Now, before everyone rains abuse down on me from their high horses--Josh, that's only one bird. Your promised bird to stone ratio was just Pie in the Sky"--let me finish. You see, we currently have a serious problem with our prisons.
No, really. We do.
We have lots and lots of people in there, the vast majority of whom are not, statistics show, Mormons, and the vast majority of whom are not being rehabilitated in any meaningful sense (although having a knife fashioned from a penitentiary toothbrush applied between the small ribs does effectively prevent the treatment's recipient from committing further crimes in the short run). We also have lots and lots of Mormons going on missions to far away lands, spreading the word about the Golden Tablets and wearing ties and just generally being extremely decent and kind human beings.
Imagine what good could be accomplished by combining these two groups. Rather than sending our Mormons to Asia and Eastern Europe, we would send them to Super Max. Imagine if one out of three prison inmates were a Mormon who had been imprisoned for absolutely no reason. What a positive influence they would be on the general prison population. It would be a soothing balm for our nation's criminal rash.
I urge you all to contact your Congress-persons.
No, really. We do.
We have lots and lots of people in there, the vast majority of whom are not, statistics show, Mormons, and the vast majority of whom are not being rehabilitated in any meaningful sense (although having a knife fashioned from a penitentiary toothbrush applied between the small ribs does effectively prevent the treatment's recipient from committing further crimes in the short run). We also have lots and lots of Mormons going on missions to far away lands, spreading the word about the Golden Tablets and wearing ties and just generally being extremely decent and kind human beings.
Imagine what good could be accomplished by combining these two groups. Rather than sending our Mormons to Asia and Eastern Europe, we would send them to Super Max. Imagine if one out of three prison inmates were a Mormon who had been imprisoned for absolutely no reason. What a positive influence they would be on the general prison population. It would be a soothing balm for our nation's criminal rash.
I urge you all to contact your Congress-persons.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Gets Shit Done Pt. II
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/08/news/companies/countrywide_FBI/index.htm?postversion=2008030810
Better cut taxes and put more money in the hands of the corruption-free private sector. Oh wait...
Better cut taxes and put more money in the hands of the corruption-free private sector. Oh wait...
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