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Who killed the American dream?Commentary: The top 1% dont 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 its 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, its the income thats received over and above what would be required to induce the person to supply their labor or capital.
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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.
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FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)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
(1,489 posts)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
(20,899 posts)including pre-emptive war, outsourcing, and a laizze-faire approach to regulation of commerce, finished it off.
1-Old-Man
(2,667 posts)Itchinjim
(3,085 posts)Fuck Reagan.