Monday, March 25, 2013

Ralph Nader: Income Inequality And The Minimum Wage

Though many (especially on the left) blame capitalism for so much of today's problems. But I believe what they are incorrectly calling capitalism, is actually what I call 'corporatism'. Many of my fellow libertarians call it 'crony capitalism', but I think that muddy's the issue by using the word 'capitalism' in a different context.Corporatism IS a form of Capitalism, in what started as "capitalism", gradually ended up being "corporatism". They are one of the same because both systems are based on self-interest. Corporatism is no different because instead of a person acting on it's own self-interest, it is the State that is acting upon its own interest. Both act upon the same principles, so eventually, Capitalism lead to a greedier form. Both are inherently flawed, and advocates of the "free market" need a reality check.

3 comments:

  1. It's so good to see Ralph Nader again! He is such a smart man, so of course he wasn't going to win the Presidency. Unfortunately, Mr. Nader doesn't realize the tentacles of the "Globalists." They are EVERYWHERE, and VERY FAR REACHING! I wish that this country could go back to "American Made," but at this point, I think it's just a "Pipe Dream!"

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  2. Capitalism has two basic faults that I discuss in my article "The Basic Faults with Capitalism". One is intrinsic to entrepreneurship which buys what someone created at the lowest achievable price and sells it at the highest. The creator of the thing often gets a small fraction of the value while other people make much more. The second is neglect of the principle that a person who creates something owns it. For more explanation see the article at the truehumanrights web site.

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  3. The "black hole theory" of the minimum wage:
    Physicists theorize that inside a black hole the laws of physics breakdown. When the minimum wage falls far enough below what the market would bear the laws of supply and demand breakdown. Doubling today's federal minimum wage should lead to a disproportionate explosion of demand for the goods of minimum to median wage paying employers.

    If we cut today's minimum to median wages in half that wouldn't help McDonald's or Wal-Mart, would it? This wage cut must already have taken place when we would need to triple today's minimum wage to catch up with doubled productivity since 1968 (almost quadruple the early 2007 minimum wage -- the median wage stagnated as productivity doubled too).
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/elizabeth-warren-minimum-wage_n_2900984.html%3Cbr

    Doubling today's minimum wage to $15 an hour would add 50% to Wal-Mart's wages but only 5% to Wal-Mart's prices – 100% to McDonald's wages but 33% to McDonald's prices. $15 an hour being today's median wage, half the workforce would get raises percentage multiples of pass through price increases.

    This win-win effect could not go on forever. At $30,000 a year consumers would buy a lot more fast food and retail items than they will at $15,000 a year – hugely pent-up demand. Going from a $30,000 year minimum wage to $40,000 would raise prices (3% at Wal-Mart; 11% at McDonald's) but not add much to demand – though some people would have more money to spend -- a wash? Somewhere in between is the edge of the black hole.
    www.ontodayspage.blogspot.com

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