Graph of greed

[Scott McKeown]

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Here is a graph I picked up on Paul Krugman's NY Times blog from a few days ago. The data is from the Economic Policy Institute. For me, this says a lot about how our economic system, as it has become, is failing our society, particularly over the last couple of decades. 1% anybody?

Yes, I know the Libertarian arguments about the free market and all. But I don't care. It's just wrong. One wonders when at what point do the pitchforks start coming out.

Scott





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[podfish]

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Here is a graph I picked up on Paul Krugman's NY Times blog from a few days ago. The data is from the Economic Policy Institute. For me, this says a lot about how our economic system, as it has become, is failing our society, particularly over the last couple of decades. 1% anybody?

Yes, I know the Libertarian arguments about the free market and all. But I don't care. It's just wrong. One wonders when at what point do the pitchforks start coming out.

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I hope someone figures a way around that.. but there's no historical precedent for what's going to be needed, and our cultural values aren't up to it. Workers haven't been getting a share of the productivity gains for 40 years (a truism you hear in many contexts) because they're getting less essential. My favorite boogeyman is Facebook, because so few people are needed to generate its zillions, but a more practical illustration is the way radiologists and legal assistants are first shopped out overseas and soon will be handled by machines. People's value won't be determined by their economic output. That's what's been said for years of course, but no-one really backed it before when it wasn't convenient - it sounds nice in church and all, but we never built an economic system or society that indicates it really feels that way. We won't be able to dodge the implications of that idea too much longer, I bet.

[hearthstone]

We, the 1% and the 99%, have to realize that we all share the same common ground--the Earth and the future--and that we have to share wisely, because if we don't, the consequences will be felt by all.
Hearthstone - www.ModelEarth.Org .

I hope someone figures a way around that.. but there's no historical precedent for what's going to be needed, and our cultural values aren't up to it. Workers haven't been getting a share of the productivity gains for 40 years (a truism you hear in many contexts) because they're getting less essential. My favorite boogeyman is Facebook, because so few people are needed to generate its zillions, but a more practical illustration is the way radiologists and legal assistants are first shopped out overseas and soon will be handled by machines. People's value won't be determined by their economic output. That's what's been said for years of course, but no-one really backed it before when it wasn't convenient - it sounds nice in church and all, but we never built an economic system or society that indicates it really feels that way. We won't be able to dodge the implications of that idea too much longer, I bet.