Money Matters

[ysabetwordsmith]

I first saw this on Doug's computer screen, from the commentary essay "Money Matters."  This is the quote that caught my eye:

The truth is that while the proximate cause of America’s economic plunge was Wall Street’s excesses leading up to the crash of 2008, its underlying cause — and the reason the economy continues to be lousy for most Americans — is so much income and wealth have been going to the very top that the vast majority no longer has the purchasing power to lift the economy out of its doldrums.

Well, yes. I have been saying that for quite some time. But the person who said this version has served as the 22nd Secretary of Labor. You might ignore me, but he has all the fancy paper and experience to show for it. Of course the obvious is still the obvious: no matter what you try, 20% of the wealth can't run 80% of the economy. Further thoughtful details appear in "The Republican Shakedown," which explains how Republicans are digging in taxpayer pockets. The problem with a shakedown, though, is that eventually you get down to pocket lint. Working Americans are running out of pennies to fund the government, or anything else for that matter.

Comments

Re: Yes...

[mejeep.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed: propaganda, economics and lack of oversight leads to misleading food labelling (abuses of "what is organic or natural?") and all the warnings Mad Magazine spoofed in the 70s (same size box, less content for the same price) or "new and improved" to force us away from the better old reliable formula (we almost lost "classic Coke" due to that and even non-Jews love the yellow-cap Passover Coke since that's sugar, not corn).

Most people don't realize how food prices are increasing by the way containers are all downsizing

• tuna went from 7 to 6 to 5 ounce cans, thus ruining all old recipies that require 6-7 oz
• orange juice from 64 to 59 oz
• yogurt from 8 to 6 oz
• Ice Cream from 2 to 1.5 quarts

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Granted, the deception sucks.

On the bright side, people tend to eat based on portion size. If the portions sold are getting smaller, maybe that will help reduce the fattening effects of portion bloat.