Who killed the American dream?

[applegrove]

Who killed the American dream?
Commentary: The top 1% don’t have a rightful claim to everything

by Rex Nutting at MarketWatch

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-killed-the-american-dream-2013-06-28

"SNIP........................................

It turns out that it’s not so much what you know, as Mankiw argues, but how much power you have, especially the power to extract economic rents. Bivens and Mishel show that the increase in the incomes of the top 1% over the past 30 years owes more to successful rent-seeking than it does to efficient and competitive markets rewarding education and skills.

What do economists mean by “rents”? Simply put, it’s the income that’s received over and above what would be required to induce the person to supply their labor or capital.

...........

All this talk about innovators is a smoke screen, anyway. Most of the increase in income for the top 1% (which means that most of the increase in income for all of the economy) has accrued to two sectors: Corporate executives and workers in the financial industry. Few of the top 1% are superstar athletes, inventors or artists.

Corporate executives receive millions in excess compensation because of rent-seeking. Many executives are mediocre at their jobs, yet receive extravagant pay packages, regardless of their performance. CEO pay increased by 14 times from the late 1970s to 2000, more than twice as fast as stock prices did, Bivens and Mishel found.


.......................................SNIP"

[FreakinDJ]

1. Obama has done his best to drive a few "Death Nails in the Coffin"

1. Complete the Shredding of the Constitution Bush started - check
2. Hand over a $Trillion to Wall St Banks with out oversight - check
3. Protect Health Industry Profits - check

[markiv]

2. massive h-1b visas did it for me

an economic bullet right to the head

indentured servitude kinda ruins any occupation

for manufacturing workers, it was NAFTA and MFN-China

different poisen, for different groups

and taking out massive categories of occupations, only increases the competition for the non targeted jobs, driving down wages and working conditions - they suffer 'secondary effect'

both parties voted in the senate to double h-1b visas yesterday

a direct transfer of wealth from ordinaty tech workers to billionaires, who need more money

[indepat]

3. The gipper's voodoo economics got the lopsided ball to rolling and a flood of right-wing governance,

including pre-emptive war, outsourcing, and a laizze-faire approach to regulation of commerce, finished it off.

[1-Old-Man]

4. Ronald fucking Reagan. Do I win a prize?

[Itchinjim]

5. Reagan.

Fuck Reagan.