More evidence that record profits are not yielding US jobs..
gimmesometruth27
St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 23,303
corporations have recovered from the recession, while the rest of us workers have not.
what we are doing is clearly not working. record corporate profits are creating jobs overseas but doing nothing to create jobs here at home. our system is fucked and it is not going to get better no matter what moves obama makes. if he raises corporate taxes or closes loopholes they will claim that is the reason for creating jobs overseas, which is the excuse they have already used in the past and it does not hold water anymore. they have not created the american jobs that they said they would. why continue to give them this environment of low taxes if they are hoarding their money and investing in workers overseas? they have done nothing for the american worker...if obama changes nothing, they will still continue to reap record profits and create overseas jobs because labor is cheaper. it just proves the notion that profits trump everything. that is the problem with capitalism, and will always be the problem with capitlalism. this job market is not obama's fault. this has been set up to be like this the last 15-20 years...the only reason bush and clinton did not face this issue this seriously is because their terms ran out...
A boom in corporate profits, a bust in jobs, wages
'I've never seen labor markets this weak in 35 years of research'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43860044/ns ... d_economy/
WASHINGTON — Strong second-quarter earnings from McDonald's, General Electric and Caterpillar on Friday are just the latest proof that booming profits have allowed Corporate America to leave the Great Recession far behind.
But millions of ordinary Americans are stranded in a labor market that looks like it's still in recession. Unemployment is stuck at 9.2 percent, two years into what economists call a recovery. Job growth has been slow and wages stagnant.
"I've never seen labor markets this weak in 35 years of research," says Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University.
Wages and salaries accounted for just 1 percent of economic growth in the first 18 months after economists declared that the recession had ended in June 2009, according to Sum and other Northeastern researchers.
In the same period after the 2001 recession, wages and salaries accounted for 15 percent. They were 50 percent after the 1991-92 recession and 25 percent after the 1981-82 recession.
Corporate profits, by contrast, accounted for an unprecedented 88 percent of economic growth during those first 18 months. That's compared with 53 percent after the 2001 recession, nothing after the 1991-92 recession and 28 percent after the 1981-82 recession.
What's behind the disconnect between strong corporate profits and a weak labor market? Several factors:
•U.S. corporations are expanding overseas, not so much at home. McDonalds and Caterpillar said overseas sales growth outperformed the U.S. in the April-June quarter. U.S.-based multinational companies have been focused overseas for years: In the 2000s, they added 2.4 million jobs in foreign countries and cut 2.9 million jobs in the United States, according to the Commerce Department.
•Back in the U.S., companies are squeezing more productivity out of staffs thinned out by layoffs during Great Recession. They don't need to hire. And they don't need to be generous with pay raises; they know their employees have nowhere else to go.
•Companies remain reluctant to spend the $1.9 trillion in cash they've accumulated, especially in the United States. They're unconvinced that consumers are ready to spend again with the vigor they showed before the recession, and they are worried about uncertainty in U.S. government policies.
"Lack of clarity on a U.S. deficit-reduction plan, trade policy, regulation, much needed tax reform and the absence of a long-term plan to improve the country's deteriorating infrastructure do not create an environment that provides our customers with the confidence to invest," Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman said.
Caterpillar said second-quarter earnings shot up 44 percent to $1.02 billion— though that still disappointed Wall Street. General Electric's second-quarter earnings were up 21 percent to $3.76 billion. And McDonald's quarterly earnings increased 15 percent to $1.4 billion.
Still, the U.S. economy is missing the engines that usually drive it out of a recession.
Carl Van Horn, director of the Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, says the housing market would normally revive in the early stages of an economic recovery, driving demand for building materials, construction workers and appliances. But that isn't happening this time.
And policymakers in Washington have chosen to focus on cutting federal spending to reduce huge federal deficits instead of spending money on programs to create jobs: "If we want the recovery to strengthen, we can't be doing that," says Chad Stone, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
For now, corporations aren't eager to hire or hand out decent raises until they see consumers spending again. And consumers, still paying down the debts they ran up before the recession, can't spend freely until they're comfortable with their paychecks and secure in their jobs.
Said Van Horn: "I don't think there's an easy way out."
what we are doing is clearly not working. record corporate profits are creating jobs overseas but doing nothing to create jobs here at home. our system is fucked and it is not going to get better no matter what moves obama makes. if he raises corporate taxes or closes loopholes they will claim that is the reason for creating jobs overseas, which is the excuse they have already used in the past and it does not hold water anymore. they have not created the american jobs that they said they would. why continue to give them this environment of low taxes if they are hoarding their money and investing in workers overseas? they have done nothing for the american worker...if obama changes nothing, they will still continue to reap record profits and create overseas jobs because labor is cheaper. it just proves the notion that profits trump everything. that is the problem with capitalism, and will always be the problem with capitlalism. this job market is not obama's fault. this has been set up to be like this the last 15-20 years...the only reason bush and clinton did not face this issue this seriously is because their terms ran out...
A boom in corporate profits, a bust in jobs, wages
'I've never seen labor markets this weak in 35 years of research'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43860044/ns ... d_economy/
WASHINGTON — Strong second-quarter earnings from McDonald's, General Electric and Caterpillar on Friday are just the latest proof that booming profits have allowed Corporate America to leave the Great Recession far behind.
But millions of ordinary Americans are stranded in a labor market that looks like it's still in recession. Unemployment is stuck at 9.2 percent, two years into what economists call a recovery. Job growth has been slow and wages stagnant.
"I've never seen labor markets this weak in 35 years of research," says Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University.
Wages and salaries accounted for just 1 percent of economic growth in the first 18 months after economists declared that the recession had ended in June 2009, according to Sum and other Northeastern researchers.
In the same period after the 2001 recession, wages and salaries accounted for 15 percent. They were 50 percent after the 1991-92 recession and 25 percent after the 1981-82 recession.
Corporate profits, by contrast, accounted for an unprecedented 88 percent of economic growth during those first 18 months. That's compared with 53 percent after the 2001 recession, nothing after the 1991-92 recession and 28 percent after the 1981-82 recession.
What's behind the disconnect between strong corporate profits and a weak labor market? Several factors:
•U.S. corporations are expanding overseas, not so much at home. McDonalds and Caterpillar said overseas sales growth outperformed the U.S. in the April-June quarter. U.S.-based multinational companies have been focused overseas for years: In the 2000s, they added 2.4 million jobs in foreign countries and cut 2.9 million jobs in the United States, according to the Commerce Department.
•Back in the U.S., companies are squeezing more productivity out of staffs thinned out by layoffs during Great Recession. They don't need to hire. And they don't need to be generous with pay raises; they know their employees have nowhere else to go.
•Companies remain reluctant to spend the $1.9 trillion in cash they've accumulated, especially in the United States. They're unconvinced that consumers are ready to spend again with the vigor they showed before the recession, and they are worried about uncertainty in U.S. government policies.
"Lack of clarity on a U.S. deficit-reduction plan, trade policy, regulation, much needed tax reform and the absence of a long-term plan to improve the country's deteriorating infrastructure do not create an environment that provides our customers with the confidence to invest," Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman said.
Caterpillar said second-quarter earnings shot up 44 percent to $1.02 billion— though that still disappointed Wall Street. General Electric's second-quarter earnings were up 21 percent to $3.76 billion. And McDonald's quarterly earnings increased 15 percent to $1.4 billion.
Still, the U.S. economy is missing the engines that usually drive it out of a recession.
Carl Van Horn, director of the Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, says the housing market would normally revive in the early stages of an economic recovery, driving demand for building materials, construction workers and appliances. But that isn't happening this time.
And policymakers in Washington have chosen to focus on cutting federal spending to reduce huge federal deficits instead of spending money on programs to create jobs: "If we want the recovery to strengthen, we can't be doing that," says Chad Stone, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
For now, corporations aren't eager to hire or hand out decent raises until they see consumers spending again. And consumers, still paying down the debts they ran up before the recession, can't spend freely until they're comfortable with their paychecks and secure in their jobs.
Said Van Horn: "I don't think there's an easy way out."
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
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care to address the numbers and the assertions made by the article?
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
i think he just wanted to show off his new avatar.
Right?
I mean... we gave them bail outs... we gave them tax cuts... we gave them a "free market" with few "regulations" and...
where are the jobs, Mr. Boehner?
:roll:
So creating 2.4 million jobs abroad with cheaper wages and longer working hours allowed them to lay off 2.9 million Americans at home.
That's patriotism at work!
Simple, costs have gone up. This new health care law contains unknown costs that will exceed what companies are paying now. Many companies are afraid to hire.
Same thing as the banks. They sit on billions, if not trillions, and are they loaning? Nope. The TARP bailout is one of the biggest scams of all time, next to the Federal Reserve.
Not to mention with the EPA, FDA, and whatever other agency gets a cut, cuts they don't necessarily pay when doing business elsewhere.
The housing market point is valid IMO, when the artificially inflated housing bubble burst it put untold numbers out of work, many of these jobs are probably gone forever.
the government "regulations" are just an allegation and a scare tactic put out into our corporate media by these companies to brainwash the ever easily manipulated public to cover up the real issue. they want cheep labor to maximize profits above all else, and they can not do that in this country. can we agree on that much??
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Hm... they're "unknown" to everyone but you, John Boner, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul and Chicken Little.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Job have gone elsewhere because we let it happen. The people of India will work for 1/4 of what the people of America will work. They'll do that because the cost of living is so much lower in Mumbai than it is in Chicago.
It's now that much cheaper to send your manufacturing jobs and call center work to countries in Asia. Not just because of that nasty health care (you'll notice Canada seems to be doing just fine) but because they can cut corners, treat their workers like shit, violate child labour laws, violate health and safety standards and never get caught, violate environmental guidelines and the people of America don't care because it's not on the daily news.
No.. the cost of those goods hasn't dropped with the price of the goods... those sneakers endorsed by a baseketball player for $30 million and made by a 6 year-old boy for 45¢ still cost the consumer $125. But hey, it's all kinda technical and American Idol is on.
I don't believe a free market has been done in quite some time. I'm with you on this issue, I am very much for American manufacturing to lead the world, and in some cases companies ARE bringing jobs back. I just read that GE is re-opening a refrigerator plant in Kentucky, one that they had closed in the past. I hope this is because Americans are sick of buying foreign made goods and that they have said enough is enough. These were good paying jobs at one time. People need to read the label where the goods are made, they may save their own job in some way.
Regardless I think things like NAFTA have ruined this country, Ross Perot was right about that one.
My company had already had a rough estimate that it would cost an additional $100M annually. They aren't going to wait for the costs to hit them, they need to figure it in the long term.
I agree with most of this. I just feel our regulations are overly painful in some cases. We should not stoop to the level of China, but we also can't handcuff companies so that they can't make a profit. Companies need to make money for people to have jobs.
I also believe when bills come out like the reinvestment act that the money should go to improving jobs in the US, and investing in the US, that is where the taxpayers live. We shouldn't be buying windmill parts from China, lightbulbs from China, or investing in engine plants in Mexico like GM did.
They are making money. Did you not read the OP above?
This isn't about companies not making enough money. It's about the heads of companies going off the end of the greed scale. If these people bank $10 million one year, then they want to bank $15-20 million the next year. The fact is, they'll never 'make enough money' simply because there's no limit to their greed.
And if a company can't afford to pay it's employees a reasonable wage, and/or treat them decently, then it shouldn't be in business.
they are making record profits, yet they have continued to kill american jobs, and that is fucked up.
does anyone other than me, byrnzie, and P.O.D. see that?
we are going to have a corporate oligarchy, and by not trying to stop it now there will be no stopping it later.
these companies should be fined for killing american jobs and creating overseas jobs. wouldn't that be the "patriotic" thing to do??
people are all for fining employers who hire illegal immigrants that "steal american jobs" yet are against fining corporations for shipping jobs over seas. aren't those two scenarios the same damn thing??
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
They've responded by expanding their work force by over 25%.
Personally, I think it's fine if jobs go overseas. What makes an American more deserving of a job than a foreigner? People are people. Patriotism is a form of discrimination which seems to be accepted.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
I suppose Americans could always move to India or Mexico to find work.
gimmie, i understand your point and agree with you.
Additionally, the US's tax structure has the highest Corporate tax in the world. The tax structure is set up to discourage companies from being in the US.
Things need to change.
Here's an example:
Company A and Plant 1 & Plant 2. Both plants make the same product for different regions of the world.
Plant 1 - US plant.
Plant 2 - European plant.
When expanding into the Asia market with a new product, Plant 1 can make the product for cheaper $ than Plant 2, however the company decides to manufacture the product at Plant 2. Why?
Because the country where plant 2 is located has far more favorable tax laws and in the end this greatly exceeds any of the cost savings that Plant 1 can provide on product cost.
We are shooting ourselves in the foot and still blaming the bullet.
they have done nothing for the american worker yet they call themselves an american company. for them to claim that they had better hire our workers or pay the taxes to not hire them.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Hm... aren't you the same guy who was railing about illegal immigrants a while back?
you can not be for one and against the other, because any way you want to look at it, in both examples the american workers lose jobs while the company profits.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
income tax isn't the only tax. Payroll taxes are a large portion of the tax burden on companies, and I don't believe any get a pass on those. Not to mention what will happen to all the companies that didn't get an exemption on the healthcare bill, whether people like it or not that is a big concern to businesses. They pay a lot of money per employee for health insurance and from the sound of it they are going to have to pay more as they are required to cover people who weren't covered before and until they know how that will affect them.
Look up what is happening with Boeing/south carolina for a good example of how the gov't is getting in the way.
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
"Ship jobs overseas"...
Now that's interesting. What about a company that is GLOBAL, serving a GLOBAL community. They have there base country but they establish manufacturing in the region where the products are sold...o at least in a region with friendly tax systems for delivery into the new markets. They aren't shipping jobs overseas in these cases, they are responding to a growing market and do so by manufacturing goods in the locations that allow them to remain competitive.
I don't disagree that some companies do simply "ship jobs overseas", but let's stop giving them reasons to.
profits uber alles...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
I realize you aren't really talking at me with this, but I am jumping in anyway...why are borders important?
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
Mine was - but that has nothing to do with it. .
What difference is there to me if the job went to someone in Texas or the Phillipines? I still do not have the job and someone else does.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
What makes Americans more deserving of those jobs than someone born somewhere else?
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
What also makes a difference is you are lumping all corporations into 1 big pot. Yet again with you generalizations when they suit you and attack others when they don't.