Raising Taxes On The Rich?

Economics is not some monolithic discipline, and it is consitently misrepresented by those with Corporatist and otherwise Elitist agendas. Take the following statement:

Economic theory says that when the government takes a bigger bite of your income as you move up the ladder into higher tax rates, you are less likely to work more, invest and build businesses. So economic growth and job creation suffer.

Some theories—and admitedly the mainstream theory—do make this claim, but it falls apart quickly when we understand that persons at those wage levels are not hourly workers; they are salaried. Likely, you will work just as hard, and your gross wages will remain somewhat the same; your net income—what you can’t shelter to avoid or evade taxes—will undoubtedly fall somewhat at the affected margin. Lots of smoke; no fire.

Reference: Raising Taxes On The Rich: Canny Or Counterproductive? : Its All Politics : NPR.

The Fake Skills Shortage

I have been teaching this by example for years to my Econ students. There is no nursing shortage, teacher shortage, engineer shortage… I posted this about the so-called nursing shortage in 2008.

Whenever you see some business person quoted complaining about how he or she can’t find workers with the necessary skills, ask what wage they’re offering. Almost always, it turns out that what said business person really wants is highly (and expensively) educated workers at a manual-labor wage.

via The Fake Skills Shortage – NYTimes.com.

Laid-off Workers More Likely to Get Cut Again

[W]orkers who lose a job will have lower tenure in their new job, making them more susceptible to layoffs. Another issue is that they tend to have been re-employed when the economy was still weak, meaning the new employer also may encounter problems and need to cut costs.

A person who is unemployed also is likely to take the first – or only – job they get offered. That means they may give less thought than they normally would to whether the job is a good fit for them.

via Laid-off workers more likely to get cut a second time – Economy Watch on NBCNews.com.

Negative Externality – Cheap Paint Job

Rian White of East Hampton, N.Y., did some rabble-rousing when he asked anyone and everyone for “help” painting his house.

“It degrades the whole neighborhood,” Tim Lee, White’s neighbor, told East Hampton Patch. “Everybody’s property value goes down. Would you buy a house next to him?”

Read more: via Cheap Paint Job | Neighbors Throw Paint on House.

Even Monkeys Recognise Unequal Pay

The 99% find primate solidarity.

Fair or unfair? Even Capuchin monkeys recognize unequal pay.

Big Banks vs. Elizabeth Warren

Not even two weeks have passed since Democrat Elizabeth Warren rode a wave of grassroots support to victory in the US Senate race in Massachusetts, ousting Republican incumbent Scott Brown. Senator-elect Warren has not yet hired her staff. She has not yet moved into her Senate office. But the banking industry is already taking aim at her, scurrying to curb her future clout on Capitol Hill.

via Big Banks vs. Elizabeth Warren: It’s On (Again!) | Mother Jones.

Our Economy Is Being Killed By Employers Who Can’t Do Arithmetic?

Back in the late sixties, a typical minimum wage worker would have a high school degree or less. Now, according to Friedman, we have CEO’s who think that they can get highly skilled workers at the some productivity adjusted wage as someone who would have had limited literacy and numeracy skills 45 years ago. If we applied the same standard to doctors, they would be averaging around $100,000 a year today instead of around $250,000.

via Thomas Friedman Says That Our Economy Is Being Killed By Employers Who Cant Do Arithmetic | Beat the Press.

Economic Mobility Evades Majority of Americans

• Forty-three percent of Americans raised in the bottom quintile remain stuck in the bottom as adults, and 70 percent remain below the middle.
• Forty percent raised in the top quintile remain at the top as adults, and 63 percent remain above the middle.

via Reports: Economic Mobility Evades Majority of Americans « I Am Progressive.

5 Ways Most Americans Are Blind to How Their Country Is Stacked for the Wealthy

Its not just economic inequality that’s plaguing our country, its lack of opportunity.

via 5 Ways Most Americans Are Blind to How Their Country Is Stacked for the Wealthy | Alternet.

3 percent pay raise the ‘new normal’ for 2013

Many U.S. workers can expect to bring home 3 percent more in 2013 than they did this year, according to forecasts from national compensation surveys .

So, at the current nominal inflation (CPI) rate of 2 to 2.2 per cent, this yields around 1 per cent in purchasing power.

via Business on NBCNews.com.