QUOTE
A Financial Meltdown 30 Years in the Making
By Mark Brenner, Labor Notes. Posted November 10, 2008.
A crisis precipitated by the wealthy, and we're all getting stuck with the tab.
They break it, and we're stuck with the bill.
...
Chickens Home to Roost
Although today's headlines don't advertise it, the financial crisis is not a sudden surprise but the latest gloomy milestone in a 30-year drive to boost corporate profits, mainly by squeezing workers. The recent flurry of fast-and-loose home loans is a symptom, not the cause, of the problem.
Faced with falling profits in the 1970s, corporations everywhere rallied to restore their bottom lines. They pressed to shift taxes away from businesses and onto individuals, sowing the seeds of today's state and local budget shortfalls. Deregulation was also a top priority, as restrictions from an earlier era -- put in place to protect the public good -- were wiped away. Starting in industries like airlines, trucking, and telecommunications, then later in banking and financial services, government protections were lifted and oversight was relaxed.
...
In 1978 the average wage for production workers was $16 an hour in today's dollars. The average was still $16 by 2007. Companies put the squeeze on working conditions, too, through lean production and quality schemes that were a smokescreen to make workers do more with less.
Corporate heads were rewarded handsomely for their efforts. CEO pay skyrocketed from 27 times what the average worker made in 1973 to 275 times in 2007.
By Mark Brenner, Labor Notes. Posted November 10, 2008.
A crisis precipitated by the wealthy, and we're all getting stuck with the tab.
They break it, and we're stuck with the bill.
...
Chickens Home to Roost
Although today's headlines don't advertise it, the financial crisis is not a sudden surprise but the latest gloomy milestone in a 30-year drive to boost corporate profits, mainly by squeezing workers. The recent flurry of fast-and-loose home loans is a symptom, not the cause, of the problem.
Faced with falling profits in the 1970s, corporations everywhere rallied to restore their bottom lines. They pressed to shift taxes away from businesses and onto individuals, sowing the seeds of today's state and local budget shortfalls. Deregulation was also a top priority, as restrictions from an earlier era -- put in place to protect the public good -- were wiped away. Starting in industries like airlines, trucking, and telecommunications, then later in banking and financial services, government protections were lifted and oversight was relaxed.
...
In 1978 the average wage for production workers was $16 an hour in today's dollars. The average was still $16 by 2007. Companies put the squeeze on working conditions, too, through lean production and quality schemes that were a smokescreen to make workers do more with less.
Corporate heads were rewarded handsomely for their efforts. CEO pay skyrocketed from 27 times what the average worker made in 1973 to 275 times in 2007.