An economy cannot sustain itself without giving back.
Wendell Berry
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Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Pertinent quotation
XI. We now have a clear, inescapable choice that we must make. We can continue to promote a global economic system of unlimited "free trade" among corporations, held together by long and highly vulnerable lines of communication and supply, but now recognizing that such a system will have to be protected by a hugely expensive police force that will be worldwide, whether maintained by one nation or several or all, and that such a police force will be effective precisely to the extent that it oversways the freedom and privacy of the citizens of every nation.
Author: Wendell Berry
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Monday, July 23, 2012
Trickle-down employment
In a recent speech by Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute, it was clear that the corporate oligarchy isn't ready to build a broadbased economy in the United States.
Mr. Tanner maintains that outsourcing is good for America.
"Outsourcing jobs has allowed U.S. companies to penetrate foreign markets, be more competitive and hire more U.S. workers at home," states Mr. Tanner.
Mr. Tanner goes on to say "If we're going to sell cars in China, it makes sense to build a plant in China."
In Mr. Tanner's world, we export jobs, not cars.
Here is Tanner's idea of the bright side of outsourcing: 'Overseas profits are brought back to the United States "and then those new profits enable them to hire new and more skilled jobs in this country."
Mr. Tanner doesn't get very specific about what these jobs will be or where they will be found. But we can be sure that trickle-down employment, like trickle-down wealth, will never reach the millions of Americans who need work.
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Mr. Tanner maintains that outsourcing is good for America.
"Outsourcing jobs has allowed U.S. companies to penetrate foreign markets, be more competitive and hire more U.S. workers at home," states Mr. Tanner.
Mr. Tanner goes on to say "If we're going to sell cars in China, it makes sense to build a plant in China."
In Mr. Tanner's world, we export jobs, not cars.
Here is Tanner's idea of the bright side of outsourcing: 'Overseas profits are brought back to the United States "and then those new profits enable them to hire new and more skilled jobs in this country."
Mr. Tanner doesn't get very specific about what these jobs will be or where they will be found. But we can be sure that trickle-down employment, like trickle-down wealth, will never reach the millions of Americans who need work.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
When buying gas didn't hurt.
Around 50 or so years ago, it was not a disagreeable experience to pull into a gas station for a fill-up. You may think I am referring to the price of gasoline then but no. After all, everything was less expensive than today.
No, I recall for your consideration that, as a rule, the following took place with every sale at the pump. You did not have to leave your car. You had already driven over an air hose which activated a bell inside to alert workers that a customer was at the pumps. You were greeted at your car door and asked how much and what kind of gas you required. While the gas was being pumped into your car's tank, the employee cleaned your front and rear windshields, and raised your hood to check the oil, water, and battery. For FREE. At sale conclusion you paid the employee money for the gas. If you were due change from your payment, he walked it out to you and thanked you for your business.
Another curtesy available to any driver was to have the air in the tires checked. For FREE, although a tip was usually proffered unless the driver decided to check tire pressure himself.
If a motorist was planning a trip, one could walk inside the station and find a display of road maps for a dozen or so states as well as a national highway map. All maps were FREE.
Once upon a time (as they say in fairy tales) such courtesies described above were considered good business. Retailers sought customers by being agreeable and offering advantages designed to cause customers to return. This attitude was spread out through many business enterprises at that time.
In the 1970's things began to change. Business people decided that America wasn't a society anymore. We were an empire, a global mover and shaker. All type of markets were available and huge profits could be had without the close attention to detail and customer satisfaction previously seen as important to the bottom line. Accounting and marketing replaced the social and moral values of community enterprise. The stockholder replaced the customer as the focus of attention.
Another feature that was lost in this change, albeit inadvertently, was the disappearance of jobs. Many teenage boys found part-time work at gas stations where they earned money and learned responsibility.
Finally, please don't call this nostalgia. We still have cars that need gas. We still have stations to provide the gas. There is no reason why the same curtesies and amenities we once enjoyed could not be reinstated today.
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No, I recall for your consideration that, as a rule, the following took place with every sale at the pump. You did not have to leave your car. You had already driven over an air hose which activated a bell inside to alert workers that a customer was at the pumps. You were greeted at your car door and asked how much and what kind of gas you required. While the gas was being pumped into your car's tank, the employee cleaned your front and rear windshields, and raised your hood to check the oil, water, and battery. For FREE. At sale conclusion you paid the employee money for the gas. If you were due change from your payment, he walked it out to you and thanked you for your business.
Another curtesy available to any driver was to have the air in the tires checked. For FREE, although a tip was usually proffered unless the driver decided to check tire pressure himself.
If a motorist was planning a trip, one could walk inside the station and find a display of road maps for a dozen or so states as well as a national highway map. All maps were FREE.
Once upon a time (as they say in fairy tales) such courtesies described above were considered good business. Retailers sought customers by being agreeable and offering advantages designed to cause customers to return. This attitude was spread out through many business enterprises at that time.
In the 1970's things began to change. Business people decided that America wasn't a society anymore. We were an empire, a global mover and shaker. All type of markets were available and huge profits could be had without the close attention to detail and customer satisfaction previously seen as important to the bottom line. Accounting and marketing replaced the social and moral values of community enterprise. The stockholder replaced the customer as the focus of attention.
Another feature that was lost in this change, albeit inadvertently, was the disappearance of jobs. Many teenage boys found part-time work at gas stations where they earned money and learned responsibility.
Finally, please don't call this nostalgia. We still have cars that need gas. We still have stations to provide the gas. There is no reason why the same curtesies and amenities we once enjoyed could not be reinstated today.
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Monday, November 7, 2011
Too big to fail, BUT NOT too big to jail
Tonight, on CBS News, Mr. Jack Bogle, founder and CEO of the Vanguard Mutual Trust Fund (the largest mutual fund in the country) stated that "wire tapping" and "more law enforcement" were required to correct the abuses of Wall Street. He believes there has to be "punishment" to make people change.
If someone from OWS spoke like this, blogs and pundits by the score would be ridiculing and condemning this as class warfare, socialism, crazy, and more.
I find it heartening to learn that there are major financiers who know that greed and fraud are killing the American economy. I wish more of them would speak out or write op-ed columns.
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If someone from OWS spoke like this, blogs and pundits by the score would be ridiculing and condemning this as class warfare, socialism, crazy, and more.
I find it heartening to learn that there are major financiers who know that greed and fraud are killing the American economy. I wish more of them would speak out or write op-ed columns.
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