It was long ago when PolitiDose said in commentary how wealth was being transferred from the middle class to the wealthy and recently how productivity has grown dramatically in the last 40 plus years with most benefits flowing to corporate CEO's and their executives and very little to the average worker who make that productivity possible. Now comes a report by The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) that sheds new light on the subject that is so easy to understand because it deals with numbers that are easily understood. The report states the following by Kate Gibson and carried on the internet.
The chasm between what the country's corporate leaders and their workers earn is widening to Grand Canyon-like proportions, according to new research that shows CEO compensation surged 940% between 1978 and 2018, while the average worker saw a meager 12% pay hike over the same 40 year period. CEO'S are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific high demand skills says Lawrence Mishel and research assistant Julia Wolfe with EPI. Depending on how it is calculated, the average pay of CEO'S at the 350 biggest U.S. companies last year came to $17.2 million."
Other factors that have driven income inequality in recent years are failure to raise the federal minimum wage, eroding union membership and globalization, all of which reflect shifts in economic policy in ways that favor big corporations and the rich, Mishel said. CEO of King Broadcasting said excessive CEO pay is the result of a rigged system that creates the wrong incentives for top executives and at the same time terrible for company morale.
In a earlier report in PolitiDose it was pointed out that of the 12% pay hike for the average worker in that 40 year period, the majority of that increase took place during the Clinton economy. That 40 year period also covers the tax cuts of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, all republicans and should put a nail in the coffin of those tax cuts being needed for Corporations to be competitive and profitable. The average voter fell for that tax scheme three times and unfortunately the regular news media never correct the republicans when they make their false claims about tax cuts for those who need them the least.
The evidence has been there all along as to what Corporate America and the wealthy use those tax cuts for, stock buy backs and etc., not investment in plant and equipment nor for increase in wages for their average workers. A healthy part of the 940% increase should have been shared with the average working employee but greed rules the day. The inequality of 940% vs. 12% is more than just obscene, it is a moral stain on the business community and how they treat their workers.
The report also makes it clear, Corporations did not need the Reagan, Bush and Trump tax cut schemes to be viable and profitable. Nor did they need less regulation and weakened environmental standards to be successful. Those three republican Presidents sold the people a fairy tale and the regular news media failed to tell the real story. And fresh on our mind should be the Trump-GOP tax cuts that have been used by Corporations and the wealthy to buy back their own stock, running up the price artificially and the vicious cycle continues to grow in 2019.
Yes my fellow American, the readers of PolitiDose were told in commentary long ago about the transfer of this wealth from the average worker to corporate America and the wealthy and why it was predictable. The facts are there for those who want to listen and learn so stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
