August 31, 2006
CEOs Hate Me!
I'm obviously bored in the morning, as I've taken to listening to the local Air America affiliate on my morning commute. (This station cracks me up. It's called "Progressive Talk" and they also have "Progressive News, Progressive Weather, and Progressive Traffic." Just what is "Progressive Traffic" for people who hate cars? Traffic jams everywhere?) Anyway, this morning Jay Marvin interviewed Barbara Ehrenreich, author of 'Bait and Switch - The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream' (Amazon sales rank #5,347). The premise of the book is that unemployed white collar workers can't get jobs because of the "magisterial indifference of the corporate world" which is a euphemism for "nobody worries about me." The line that tingled my spine this morning was when Barbara said, "It really is criminal the way corporations use and abuse their employees." Apparently the unemployment rate is low only because white collar workers take "survival jobs" with low pay and no "benefits" (read: full-boat health insurance). Barbara was describing how what is needed is for white collar workers to organize for collective bargaining with corporations. Well, I thought, at least she's offering a plan. That's more than the "anybody but Bush" anti-war crowd (of which she's clearly a member) has done in the 5 years since 9/11.
As I considered whether to blog this I imagined how enjoyable it would be to read what JK does with Ehrenreich's hanging curve ball that "corporations don't care about their employees." It'll be much more enjoyable than watching what the Mets did to (Colorado Rockies') Josh Fogg's pitching at home last night!
Economics and Markets Posted by JohnGalt at August 31, 2006 7:22 PM
Rrrr! I tuned in and it was 0-7 in the second. I'll be glad when the Mets go home.
I don't think I can tell the choir anything they don't know: we have a strange idea of coercion in this country. "I have to work at XYZ Corp because I have a big mortgage on my 3500 square foot house." Not really gulag tales.
Milton Friedman (I hope everybody's watching "Free To Choose" over at The Everyday Economist) asked a union leader if he thought they could go to an impoverished country, set a high minimum wage and make everyone wealthy. He said it's preposterous. I'd have to put collective bargaining for the corporate crowd in the same dustbin.
Wages are set by global markets and as such are probably as truly fair as they have ever been.
Jeez, we're not playing the Mets again tonight are we?
Posted by: jk at August 31, 2006 7:55 PMIf I blog every hairbrained thing I hear on "Progressive Radio" we'll run out of storage on the blog's server, but this morning Jay Marvin wanted to ask "people who consider themselves conservative" if they are "proud of poverty." Swell Jay is willing to give up his tax refund to make sure the children of deadbeat dads have good healthcare, but those who aren't willing to be their brother's keeper are obviously "proud" of what they "created." Nice.
The good news is we sent those east coast city slickers home with a fat lip last night as the Rockies beat the Mets 8-4. I hope the National League wins the World Series (for only the 3rd time in the last 9 years) and the Mets are odds-on favorite to be the senior circuit's representative. The Rockies had an excellent year, proving that they can win in Coors field with pitching and defense instead of scoring runs by the dozen. If they can shore up the bullpen next season they'll have a real chance at postseason again. But for the here and now, Go Mets!
Posted by: johngalt at September 1, 2006 10:08 AMOh yeah, I wanted them to leave 'cause they're dammned good. I always pull for the NL and this Mets team deserves a shot.
The designated hitter smacks of collectivism, and I can't abide by it. AL indeed.
Posted by: jk at September 1, 2006 10:30 AM | What do you think? [3]