Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unions are implemented differently in the US and elsewhere. IMHO the case law around unions in the US sets up a perverse incentive structure that results in an antagonistic relationship between capital and labor, ex: Supreme Court ruling requires that unions protect all of their members from firing, even the obviously terrible ones, this has resulted in huge inefficiencies for workers AND capital alike. Other countri…
> Supreme Court ruling requires that unions protect all of their members from firing, even the obviously terrible ones What is this ruling?
It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
171–180 of 224 posts
Re: It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And unionists, no matter how piss poor a job they do, can never be fired (in theory they can, but in practice it never happens). Do you mean union leaders or regular members? Because if it's the latter, then you have a counterexample in every 100% unionized company that ever fired anyone.
> Do you mean union leaders or regular members? Because if it's the latter, then you have a counterexample in every 100% unionized company that ever fired anyone This is an interesting point. In countries with well functioning high organization such as Sweden (but unlike France) the key to the situation is the peace agreement (yes it's literally called that) between unions and employers. Basically: unions promise to…
One example of the power of Swedish unions is that Sweden has no minimum wage law. Sure an employer could pay less than the union rate by why wouldn't the worker go to a union shop instead?
Re: It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are different ways to do that by redefining the way bankruptcy works. E.g. Personal bankruptcy could result in 2-3 years of handing over most of your income to the state (which distributes across the original loan providers), expect any major assets to be liquidated (e.g. Your house), before you're considered debt free.
If you just graduated from college with no money and debt how could you have a house? Also that is currently how bankruptcy works anyway. >Personal bankruptcy could result in 2-3 years of handing over most of your income to the state (which distributes across the original loan providers) That is even worse than how bankruptcy works right now for most debts. There already is loan forgiveness after so many years for st…
> If you just graduated from college with no money and debt
Require a guarantor
Re: It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Credit would dry up overnight and interest rates would go through the roof on many loans. That's a silly thing to say. Will the Moon fall down too? > Also why would anyone ever offer a student loan under these conditions? Probably profit. Don't you think? Isn't that usually why loans are made? You understand that this is a recent change to the law (1998) and prior to that, student loans still existed and worked fin…
Why would you extend a massive loan to someone who is broke, has no credit, and can immediately discharge the debt. They could and many of them would immediately discharge the entire balance of the loan upon graduation by declaring bankruptcy. They don't offer standard 40k+ loans to people with no credit at any rate. Also even if they did offer that the interest rate would be insane because you are dealing with so ma…
> Why would you extend a massive loan to someone who is broke, has no credit, and can immediately discharge the debt
Ask the people that offered student loans in 1997
Re: It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
#175Countries are best off that empower their people: the individual citizens.
I really don't like the framing of that. Good countries get the hell out of the way while people use their inherent power of self-determination. If someone powerful spends their time "empowering" you, it means you had none in the first place.
Nobody had any power in the first place. Have you SEEN a baby? My parents raised me to who I was today. They empowered me. They have no power over massive monopolistic corporations though, so I don't see why it's so horrible with further empowerment.
Re: It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
The solution is pretty straightforward. Replace all taxes on labor and earned income with a land value tax. This will increase disposable income of workers by directly decreasing taxes on wages, by lowering the cost of housing by disincentivizng speculative land investment, and by increasing the supply and margin of production of rent-free land, the later of which increases the bargaining power of workers per Ricardo…
Isn't a land value tax punitive to poor people who buy cheap land which then becomes valuable for some reason? Let's say I have low cash flow and bought a reasonably priced house in silicon valley in 1975. Should I basically be forced out of my house in 2010 because a bunch of ultra wealthy companies opened offices a few miles away?
I think we need to better manage expectations of living space. Renters have no right to live forever in the same apartment, and if they can't pay rent, they have to move. Homeowners pay rent in the form of property taxes to the government, and likewise: if you can't pay your rent, you gotta move.
So you won a lottery ticket?
You pay your taxes or go to jail.
So you got lucky with your home purchase?
You pay your taxes or lose your home.
Property is pretty fungible - if your taxes go up, you got lucky, now you probably are sitting on hundreds of thousands more dollars. Stop being stubborn. You've had your turn in that property. Sell. Move to a cheaper place, own it free and clear, and free up housing stock for people who are willing to pay for it.
- Sincerely, the rest of us.
PS - a commenter writes:
> That ignores the possibility that you bought your house as an investment, because you recognized the potential of a neighborhood, or that you were responsible (in part) for building the value of the neighborhood.
Oh, you expected the neighborhood to improve and didn't expect your property taxes to go up? That seems really disingenuous.
> Luck
We all have luck, and for the most part, we make it ourselves. The reality of life is that you shouldn't expect to live in the same place forever. If you've had your turn in one place, but the economy is saying your turn is over, don't fight it. It's not worth it. Make your own luck. Move where the taxes and crime-rates are lower and where the schools and streets are better.
Re: It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
#177> The central issue in American politics is the economic security of the middle class and their sense of opportunity for their children. Maybe for Mr. Summers, it is. And maybe as well, for liberals generally. But there are at least a couple problems. First, many Americans are apparently convinced that some other issue is central in American politics. Maybe it's threats from foreigners. Or from Satan, or some proxy o…
The article is from a while ago, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were still true: 19% of Americans think they are in the top 1% and 20% more expect to be one day [1]. So a full 39% of Americans either suck at math or actually believe that by rewarding wealthy capitalists they are actually rewarding themselves! 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/opinion/the-triumph-of-hop...
There was this year that my friend sold her apartment... It was a lot more money than she originally paid for it. She got an awesome income that year.
For the article: > Using data from the Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Carroll showed that between 1999 and 2007, half of those who earned over $1 million a year did so just once during this period...
Yep. I will recommend reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Lie_with_Statistics
Re: It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
Employees take on a lot of risk. They risk being laid off and they have to put all their eggs in one basket. They also risk damage to their career if their company assigns to them work that doesn't look good on resume. In my view investors have less risk.
>Employees take on a lot of risk. They risk being laid off and they have to put all their eggs in one basket. That's not a lot of risk. If they get laid off, they don't lose an initial investment like the shareholders do. If I get laid off today, I will just go find another job. I don't lose my previous wages. >They also risk damage to their career if their company assigns to them work that doesn't look good on resum…
Most of us live in a world where it's not so easy to just take another job if the current doesn't meet expectations. In addition you have almost no way tell upfront if the new job will be any better.
Re: It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
> To me, being wealthy means being able to live a comfortable life without worrying about your next paycheck Americans generally use middle-class to refer to this state. Things are good, you have a paycheck or two of slack, you can make a healthy retirement contribution and save a little each month, own (via debt) a decent house and car, go out to eat a few times a month, not pinch pennies at the grocery store, etc.…
Real wealth is not having debt.
I have no debt, some liquid assets, but still rent. I know I'm better off than a lot of the country but being in the top n% of income in the wealthiest country in the world but enjoying little of the amenities besides basic infrastructure seems difficult for me to think of myself in any way as "wealthy." Unencumbered is ahead of many but I think I'd far rather have $400k income (and, more importantly, the social status and connections that kind of occupation or niche implies) with $1MM in debt than some low six figure income with much more in common socially with the homeless and nonfunctional mentally ill.
Re: It’s time to balance the power between workers and employers
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Half-life projects “ultimately just starve to death” in Valve’s company culture, says alleged insider Looks like this organisation structure favors some type of projects and neglects others.
I'm not sure if that structure even still exists. The article mentions that half life projects failed to gain support from "upper echelons", a group that does not exist under the alledged organizational structure.
I've seen other allegations that it's nominally flat, but informally hierarchical in practice. There are cliques that each have their leader, and you can't get anything done without having influence within the social circle of leaders.