Economic Disparity

Doulosiesou

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I found this image a long time ago but it's still applicable today, it shows how the capital markets have become completely out of whack with the real economy, this is caused by unsecured lending by banks, and by deficit spending by governments.

emg3ELv.jpg


So that blue line is like the real economy, then the black line is financial engineering which makes CEOs very wealthy and pensioners feel wealthy but they aren't because the red line is what will eventually happen.
 
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Yarddog

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Today , 2 January 2018, it is 10:40 AM. By noon today the highest paid CEOs in the United States and Canada will already have earned more than you or I will make in the entire year.

What does this say about our society?
That some people have been very successful, money wise, in their chosen career.
Is this a healthy situation?
Depends.
Is this just?
Depends.
How long will this continue?
You give too little info to judge.

There are many very rich people that contribute enormously to our society while others are leeches. An industry may pay its Corporate head very lucratively but also pay its other employees fairly, as well. If this is the case, employees are usually satisfied.

Other Corporations fail to pay their employees a fair living wage and if this type of corp. becomes the rule it is only a matter of time before people begin to rebel.

Will this lead to a major political shake up or revolution?
Hopefully not a revolution but instead employees take advantage of unionization. Unions are responsible for so many things that people have taken for granted over the years.
 
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JackRT

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Hopefully not a revolution but instead employees take advantage of unionization. Unions are responsible for so many things that people have taken for granted over the years.

Most of those employees who are dead set against unions fail to understand the circumstances and history behind the union movement. Union members fought and even died for working conditions and wages that are taken for granted today. Political moves to dismantle unions are ill conceived and very worrisome to me. In massive wage disparity we are already seeing a return to the days of the robber baron.
 
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com7fy8

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In massive wage disparity we are already seeing a return to the days of the robber baron.
Part of it can be that CEO's are getting a lot because companies are competing to get them. Even charitable organizations want to get competent CEO's; and they might need to pay a lot to get one who would gladly go elsewhere for more money.
 
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Yarddog

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Most of those employees who are dead set against unions fail to understand the circumstances and history behind the union movement. Union members fought and even died for working conditions and wages that are taken for granted today. Political moves to dismantle unions are ill conceived and very worrisome to me. In massive wage disparity we are already seeing a return to the days of the robber baron.
As a retired Union President, I agree totally.
 
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JackRT

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You don't know what an ad hominem attack is.

probably about half of rich people inherited their wealth and did absolutely nothing to deserve it.

Leave rich people alone. They worked hard for their success and deserve every penny.

Those who worked hard and were successful in producing a good or service that was of benefit to humanity deserve generous compensation. $100,000 a day? That is far more than generous. There is a word ... it's coming to me ... yeah ... there it is .... it is called "greed".
 
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Yekcidmij

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I found this image a long time ago but it's still applicable today, it shows how the capital markets have become completely out of whack with the real economy, this is caused by unsecured lending by banks, and by deficit spending by governments.

emg3ELv.jpg


So that blue line is like the real economy, then the black line is financial engineering which makes CEOs very wealthy and pensioners feel wealthy but they aren't because the red line is what will eventually happen.

I'm pretty skeptical. The assumption is that the stock market mean reverts to the "mean" on that chart. But why think that? And why think it reverts to the arithmetic mean vs something else like a geometric mean?

I'm not even sure that the "mean" line is really the arithmetic mean of the Dow prices, but I'm just eyeballing it so maybe it's right.

There are statistical tests where you can test for mean reversion. Just looking at the chart it doesn't look like a mean reverting process, but the fact that the chart maker didn't do the test indicates to me that they probably don't know what they're doing.

Additionally, it looks like the prediction on the chart for a depressing in mid-2016 didn't pan out.
 
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Yekcidmij

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Those who worked hard and were successful in producing a good or service that was of benefit to humanity deserve generous compensation. $100,000 a day? That is far more than generous. There is a word ... it's coming to me ... yeah ... there it is .... it is called "greed".

What's the word for deciding how much is appropriate to make in a day?

Who gets to decide how much is appropriate for compensation? Who gets to determine what is a "benefit to humanity?" And why?
 
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Phil 1:21

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Today , 2 January 2018, it is 10:40 AM. By noon today the highest paid CEOs in the United States and Canada will already have earned more than you or I will make in the entire year.

Good for them. They obviously made better financial decisions in life than I did.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” -Exodus 20:17
 
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Almost there

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Today , 2 January 2018, it is 10:40 AM. By noon today the highest paid CEOs in the United States and Canada will already have earned more than you or I will make in the entire year.

What does this say about our society?

Is this a healthy situation?

Is this just?

How long will this continue?

Will this lead to a major political shake up or revolution?
Ask their stockholders. It's their money.
 
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The Barbarian

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The problem is a simple one; countries with huge disparities in income become poorer. Those with less disparity are more prosperous.
863px-2014_Gini_Index_World_Map%2C_income_inequality_distribution_by_country_per_World_Bank.svg.png


It's no coincidence that as economic disparity increased in the United States, its relative wealth declined.
 
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