UnbalancedEconomy wrote:
I am not completely opposed to anything you are saying. The market does set the rate. But the market is rigged because of the power balance. The supply and demand equation is skewed by manipulation.
As an engineer myself, I have seen what H1-B visas did to wages for engineers in the US. These are supposed to be for skills that cannot be found in the US, but companies have used it as a way to hire indentured servants. That in brings down the wages for other tech people. Consequently, it drove bright young people out of Tech so now there really is a shortage and wages are slowly rising, but the correction will take many years and wages were flat for more than 10 years due to the manipulation of the supply and demand equation. Wages being flat for 10 years in an entire industry is not an exception, it is a rule and a bad one.
Other companies operate outside of the rules to gain an advantage: Farming, construction, etc hire illegal aliens and/or pay cash and there are no income taxes paid by those people. So the system breaks down when those people go use government services. But the business has already pocketed the difference - corporate subsidy on the sly.
Saying someone is an "owner" of Apple by owning stock is technically true, but still the individual investor has no say in whether Apple operates ethically in hiring and wages, environment, etc. They can vote on corporate policy, but it will have no effect (drop in the ocean). And yes, the "owner" pays taxes but it is usually at a lower rate than income so again the rich gain a tremendous advantage as that is the source of more of their income.
So the government is getting paid, but less than is should. People are getting paid market value in an artificial market.
John Utah wrote:
No system is perfect, but I would say of the 200 million people working in the USA (or whatever the total number is), the vast majority are paid what they are worth in the economic sense as determined by supply and demand. There are exceptions of course, but there are exceptions, not the norm. Don't get thrown off by exceptions and measuring reality against some kind of textbook theoretical-perfect-system-in-a-vacuum nonsense. Engineers, accountants, teachers, mechanics, carpenters, etc., etc, etc, etc. It pretty much falls in line for the vast majority of "jobs" in the usa.
Also, did you know that corporations are taxed both at the corporate level and at the ownership level? If you own shares in Apple you are an owner of the company. When the company makes money they pay dividends to their owners, you. And you, the owner of said company, pay taxes on dividends/profits. And you, the owner, pay taxes again gain if and when you sell your shares. If you think the government isn't getting paid you are ignorant of the facts (not a pejorative).
Companies pay market rates of pay. Just like you demand to get paid market rates. Just like you want to pay market rates for the goods and services you buy.
To Unbalanced Economy. You seem very thoughtful. I used to think much like you. Then I discovered the most impressive American economist the left doesn't want you to know about; Thomas Sowell. Look him up please.