Is the problem with the economy, the poor want a living wage, or the wealthy get paid too much?

You might want to clean up this question. I’m not sure what it is asking.

@tom_g the way people groan when minimum wage is to go up, saying it will ruin the economy and lose jobs, but on the other hand some of these top CEO earn what 10,000 low income earners do, is that one person really worth 10,000 low income earners.

Now the high income earners think they are the driver of the economy, by giving jobs to the middle class, but it’s the middle class that really do by buying the products from the high income factories,and if they get a living wage they buy more products,and every body wins, but the wealthy have a very hard time seeing that,they would much rather source out jobs over seas ,then wonder why nobody is buying their products and services.

Still not clear. Are you saying there is a problem? And if so, what is it? Poverty? “nobody is buying”? income disparity?

Do you not see a problem, the poor can not afford to by the products that will get the economy going.
I realize there are different wage scales ,and that’s fine but the low income earners shouldn’t have to need Government help,because they are working,and if they made a living wage that would get the economy going a lot better.

@SQUEEKY2: “Do you not see a problem”

I didn’t say that I don’t see any problems. I couldn’t parse your question. I was expecting to see an explanation of a problem. Rather than define a problem and propose a few explanations, you simply skipped to the explanations part. I was attempting to determine what you felt was the problem.

@SQUEEKY2: “the poor can not afford to by the products that will get the economy going. I realize there are different wage scales ,and that’s fine but the low income earners shouldn’t have to need Government help,because they are working,and if they made a living wage that would get the economy going a lot better.”

Again. So, what are you asking here?

I don’t see anything unclear about the question, but the answer is :neither. From a purely economic perspective, the problem with the economy is largely a problem of low demand.

A living wage for the poor might be a treatment for the problem (e.g., all things being equal, paying the poor more can in theory stimulate demand). Taxing the wealthy more could also be a treatment if it’s done in such a way to stimulate demand (e.g., write-offs to encourage spending as a way of avoiding taxes).

The problem with the economy is we as a nation buy more than we sell to several nations and our currency is based upon a largely foreign commodity.

@DWW25921: the first is barely a problem and the second doesn’t even make sense. What “foreign commodity” is the dollar based on?

The problem with the economy is not the either/or subjects you have suggested.

The real problem is greed and corruption in certain venues and the general public who just wants its share.

From one who has a bit of wisdom to discern the spirit of the question without having to have the bread crumbs laid at my feet 2 inches apart, I think it is a little of what you said, but much more. I think it is a culture of the ”have nots” to want to get paid more for less service. True, give them more money and they will spend more, the factories will make more, and thus, should be able to pay their workers more, then the cycle repeats as those workers become consumers of another factory’s products.

What happens is in many industries, you have unions mucking things up, (don’t even go there, I was a union man once). Because John Q wants to get paid top dollar he joins a union, but the union also doesn’t want John Q to have to work his full potential. If he can do three jobs in the factory the union will hold him to doing just one, and then, in limited capacity. He is told to help things out and to speed things up, he can’t come down off of his forklift to assist the men moving the pallets. Even if his assignments to the plant are delayed he cannot help; the union just wants the plant to hire yet another union worker. Why go through all of that and the red tape of the government? They will just take their operation overseas.

Second component of that is many business that ship jobs to foreign soil are publicly owned companies, they are beholding to investors to turn a profit. There is where the greed kicks in. The investors do not care how; they just want to see their buck increase. Since the investors in a sense hire the CEOs they pay them mega bucks to manufacture them a profit. So the CEO care just enough about the worker to make them happy with there job J ust O ver B roke situation] that they show up for work each day and not strike or quit in droves. Some CEOs I think have shown they are worth being paid, their leadership and vision has taken companies circling the drain and made them profitable powerhouses; others are just paid to0 much because they have the title. What other job can you get fire for being inept, and ineffective and still get millions as a parting gift?

The rich investors are unsympathetic, stingy, and greedy (not ALL, but a lot). If it means they will get X amount more in quarter dividends, they care not about shipping jobs to foreign soil. The unions requiring workers to get paid top dollar when they are not working more than 60% doesn’t help.

There is other things in there as well that are fringe or incidental things, like not having healthcare, politicians and their lust for power cowing down to Special Interest while trying to bamboozle John Q into thinking he/she actually cares for them to get their vote.

The problem is that the poor CANNOT be allowed a living wage if the rich are to be “paid too much”. In fact the truth is that the middle class itself cannot be permitted a living wage if the rich are to get richer. THIS is why it is essential that the rest of us accept the somber fact we must get used to getting by on less. It’s all over the news. “We” can no longer afford the public services that benefit all of us. The reasons given usually involve wasteful and bloated government with overpaid civil servants. Yet the stock market is at record levels, and things haven’t been this good for the wealthy since the guilded age. There is indeed a choice that has been made, and a blind man can see it.

@bolwerk Seriously??? The American Dollars value is based on trading commodities like oil.

@DWW25921: yes, seriously. The U.S. dollar is a free-floating fiat currency.

The latter, Way too much.

@bolwerk It’s based on nothing?

@DWW25921:in a way. Long story short, its value comes from the fact that people want it and accept it. Most modern first world currencies work that way.

What an awful idea…

@DWW25921: the inherent problem with pegging a currency to something else is you actually have to be able to honor redeeming it. That’s why the gold standard fell through – eventually, it became impossible to have enough gold on hand to give to everyone who wanted to redeem their paper for gold.

I caught on the Canadian news last night that the top CEO’s wages in Canada has gone up 78% in the last twenty some years while the working joes has only gone up 6%,those CEO’s really worth that and the working joe isn’t?

Everyone should have enough money after hard work to raise a family, or at least enough to attract and retain a mate. Or to get laid for those who don’t want a family.