causes of inequality: wealth - fed monetary policy, income - illegals

Unfortunately, their charlatan theories are indoctrinated in students starting from elementary school. No hope for change.

Crack addicts get put on methadone, once there hooked on that crap, what can they be put on next? No one wants to go cold turkey...

So what has inequality increased so dramatically since the deregulation of the markets in the 1980s?

Just an unlucky coincidence?

You are an peculiar little fella...

it's no use arguing - they'll just delete the thread in 5 minutes. Sick of it.

krispy kremlin wrote:

Liberals support policies that do more harm than good and then develop new "answers" that compound the problem - and most don't realize it.

Well said.

the seeds were laid long before the 80s. fed monetery policy was at least sane in the 80s too...but i assume your deregulation baloney is par for the course in educational indoctrination.

Typical RWNJ post by the OP. Lots of complaining about liberals, but no specifics or possible solutions offered.

Betty Boop wrote:

Typical RWNJ post by the OP. Lots of complaining about liberals, but no specifics or possible solutions offered.

A. reduce the involvement of the federal reserve

B. actively deported illegal aliens

A. Thats just stupid

B. More deportations under Obama than ever.

too late wrote:

the seeds were laid long before the 80s. fed monetery policy was at least sane in the 80s too...but i assume your deregulation baloney is par for the course in educational indoctrination.

Good response.

No, wait, sorry, that isn't a response at all, it doesn't offer anything rational to counter my point.

Supply. Demand. Productivity.

Compare:

Kodak employed 150,000 ppl at peak in 1989 with about $16Bn revenue

Instagram had 13 employees when it was bought by Facebook; it should generate $6Bn this year.

Do. The. Math.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

If you are a wage slave, you will be paid exponentially greater wages the higher up the skill (or revenue-generation) curve you can go. If you bag groceries or sling coffee, well, your value is limited and declining (sorry).

If you are an entrepreneur (aka owner of the means of production) and create a popular product, esp. if its marginal cost is zero (e.g., an app), you can now reach a global audience of billions.

Policies schmaltzilies; small potatoes versus accelerating automation and productivity trends. Some will eke out a living piling on the hours and doing the work that mid-class Americuns are unwilling to do (until lawncare robos are perfected, that is). Please note: a basic std of living in the US is, well, mighty find: A/C, autos, light-up sneakers, iPhone(r), interwebs, etcs. W'all are only complainin' cuz the neighbor drives a Tesla (and a Huracan... and a Ford GT on Independence Day, just to be one wi' the peeps)--it's just envy.

Income disparity is NOT the problem, in a technical sense, but it sure is in a societal sense, you know, when your neighbors come to burn your palace an like that.

What I mean is: *one* super-talented person can now create BILLION$ of dollars of value for a company; a *few* talented people can satisfy huge market demand. The REST of the world can, well, pound sand? (Not sayin' it's nice or right: just answerin' the question re:the CAUSE of inequality.)

A huge amount of work still must be done by humans hands. Don't fall into the liberal victim mind trap that there isn't any work to do - although for all the champaign socialists out there in Berkley and Brookline, you might not know any better.

krispy kremlin wrote:

A huge amount of work still must be done by humans hands..

Not saying there isn't: just saying that work done by "hands" is not going to (and, economically speaking, should not expect to) be paid the same way that someone with 10,000x the productivity is going to.

Let's say one cashier can help 300 customers per day

How many customers per day (via, say, self-checkout machines at groceries and drug stores) are handled by the person/company that develops self-checkout systems?

How many animators have been replace by CGI?

How many truckers (or, more likely, full-pay truckers) will be replaced by self-driving trucks?

Some "hand made" things will demand a premium: think furniture, wrought iron railings, tailored clothes; however, the *skill* required is well above run-of-the-mill (um, by definition, really)...

In the '70s, my family had one car, no A/C, no color TV, no cell phone... We'd be deemed "poor" by today's standards. The income "inequality," in economic terms, is irrelevant. "Poor" ppl today have cars, A/C,color TVs, microwaves, etc. etc... Access to cheap mass-produced goods via Wal-Mart; cheap food, cheap restaurants (dollar menu, anyone?) etc.

SOME folks are just mad 'cuz Bill Gates has a jet... or 'cuz Paulson has a few billion, or 'cuz Zuckerberg took some stupid app and made billions...

Not saying it's right or "fair" (whatever that means), just saying that whining while the standard of living continues to increase is not in accord with economics.

Kodak was founded in 1888. This is important because I highly doubt Instagram will exist in 100 years.Instagram was launched in 2010. Facebook aquired them for $1 billion in 2012. Estimates are that Instagram will generate $5.8 billion in 2020, not this year.Check your facts before you spew.http://mashable.com/2015/02/19/instagram-revenue-estimate-2020/

[quote]Your. Math. Sucks. wrote:

Check your facts before you spew.

http://mashable.com/2015/02/19/instagram-revenue-estimate-2020/

You watched the vid then?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

I look forward to your more pointed and informative response.

With regard to comparing Instagram and Kodak, the comparison was not meant to be perfect (I could have used any other photo-based sharing app). The point was that 180,000 ppl (regardless of my "spew") are Out. Of. Work.

Why?

Digital killed the Kodachrome star...

As before, I look forward to your cogent response to increases in automation and their likely negative effects on income inequality.

what ho, this thread is still here?

Anyway, you animals.

Fascinating fact: even though

INEQUALITY has been growing over the last few decades,

ECONOMIC MOBILITY is pretty much unchanged.

tease that one out.

I think it is good - that there is some balance to the equation - that even though many forces have increased inequality, perhaps the US has become even more meritocratic.

too late wrote:

Unfortunately, their charlatan theories are indoctrinated in students starting from elementary school. No hope for change.

Crack addicts get put on methadone, once there hooked on that crap, what can they be put on next? No one wants to go cold turkey...

There is a group in Nigeria which shares your thoughts on western education.

agip wrote:

Fascinating fact: even though

INEQUALITY has been growing over the last few decades,

ECONOMIC MOBILITY is pretty much unchanged.

tease that one out.