“That is, workers have suffered worsening terms of trade, in which the prices of things they buy (i.e., consumer goods and services) have risen faster than the prices of items they produce (consumer goods but also capital goods).”
link, Understanding the Historic Divergence Between Productivity and a Typical Worker’s Pay: Why It Matters and Why It’s Real
This is the income inequality that so many talk about. The conservatives claim that the corporations must be kept strong. Those with more egalitarian values say that something should be done to alleviate the trends. I am of this mind. I think that the way to have some impact on an economy is in the government, by electing more middle class and voting for more middle class.
Only when a third party in the US can exert some power to support the rights of the workers and the poor/middle class, I believe can change occur. The democrats and the republicans are quite controlled by rich agendas and rich congress people. The rich corporations are intertwined with many elected to congress.
I do not hate corporations. I just say that there needs to be more fairness. A bit or some regulation is needed. Exorbitant tax incentives are not necessary when some corporations send their earnings overseas to pay less taxes, in addition to many other occurrences or actions.
I do not support socialism. I support more equal and reasonable decisions in our government.
I might add that people like Bernie Sanders should stop using the terminology of democratic socialism. I like to use middle ground phrases so to not inflame the conservatives. Well, the truth of the matter, they will inflame themselves quite often as they are hateful. I am not even sure if I support Bernie. I think he might be too much to the left. I really stopped liking him when he bashed Obama, very badly.
When Bernie speaks about structural change in our American society, I do think he understands that working within the Democratic Party, perhaps, is not the “sea-change” that is needed. My ears do perk up when he speaks about structural changes, as that is what a class-based movement is all about (my forth-coming book). He brings up ideals about free university education. I am not sure how that would be accomplished.
We in society, must be realistic. If we know that different factions among us do not believe in raising the taxes so high to pay for any and everyone’s education – – then perhaps it is not a pragmatic goal. Lowering the price levels of tuition would be an improved goal, in my opinion. The fact of the matter is that 30-40 years ago, tuition was not outlandish. It has gone up just like the cost of medications and the cost of health insurance, due to many factors.
The factors that result in high prices must be attended to, I assert. If one declares that the current system must be turned upside down to accomplish free “whatever” for all Americans, the system might collapse.
- a public university cannot or should not have a coach earning outlandish salaries.
- a public university cannot or should not have a president earning exorbitant salaries. They are administrators and basically a teacher. If they only do it for the money, then they are not like our public school teachers who scrimp, save, and often leave the job because the job does not pay well enough. There should be limits on what public university presidents are paid. They are not comparable to the private sector. The private sector is for profit. A public university is for EDUCATION.
Political movement to elect qualified middle class in the USA 