US ownership in capital markets by wealth level:
Wealthiest 1% of earners - 50.1%
Top 90-99% of earners - 37.3%
Top 50-89% of earners - 11.7%
Bottom 50% of earners - 1.1%
Source: Federal Reserve/Reuters
America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
171–180 of 238 posts
Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
#172As somebody living outside the US, I would find moving to the states highly undesirable even if it wasn't for the hostility towards non-US citizens. To me, it would mean a significant reduction in quality of live and I am low-key scared of all the ingredients and additives in food that are pretty much banned everywhere else. Not to mention all risks regarding healthcare.
If you look at the immigration numbers across the board, apparently most people disagree :) just purely by numbers other than vibes or rare scary scenarios, the living standards in the US make most other OECD countries look poor. Not even speaking of the fact that immigrants can always go back so it's even better for them. I hiked with a guy who lived between US and Canada because he liked US better but needed expensive surgeries (that were also optional, kinda) so he did the minimum in Canada to qualify. Or worked with a European who outright said after making money it would be a good idea for him to go back and (ab)use the welfare state. Americans can't do that!
Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
#173>If the U.S. changed some policies – such as increasing the federal minimum wage – 46 million people could earn enough to rise above that fair pay line. You can't just raise minimum wage and expect people to make more money since businesses need to fire everyone who aren't worth the new minimum wage and then those newly unemployed people will depress wages for other jobs since there is more labor on the supply side.
On other hand if you can not afford to pay your employees wages they can survive on you do not deserve to be in business. You should go out and any resources you use should instead be used in way that can reasonably sustain workers.
It is not employer's responsibility to subsidize their employees poor financial decisions. It's people's own responsibility to live within their means and find higher paying jobs. It's not an employers fault that someone working part time 1 hour a week can't afford the rent on their $10k a month apartment.
Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
#174>If the U.S. changed some policies – such as increasing the federal minimum wage – 46 million people could earn enough to rise above that fair pay line. You can't just raise minimum wage and expect people to make more money since businesses need to fire everyone who aren't worth the new minimum wage and then those newly unemployed people will depress wages for other jobs since there is more labor on the supply side.
Check out https://arindube.substack.com/p/a-minimum-wage-natural-exper... , very good post comparing states with minimum wage and without, that seem to go against this often repeated argument.
There is bias in which states increased minimum wage or not. It's like attributing the massive tech salaries in Silicon Valley vs Maine because minimum wage exists.
Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
#175I believe Americans are naive to the bad deal they're currently sitting with. It is the most materially wealthy place on earth, yet with terrible distribution – this is not a technical problem, it is a cultural problem. My favorite example is to describe a suburb. A lot of people in the world do not know how dystopian an American suburb is: many residents do not know their neighbors, acquiring food requires driving a…
Police officers are screened in a way that intentionally prevents people with exceptionally low IQs from entering the field.
Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
#176As somebody living outside the US, I would find moving to the states highly undesirable even if it wasn't for the hostility towards non-US citizens. To me, it would mean a significant reduction in quality of live and I am low-key scared of all the ingredients and additives in food that are pretty much banned everywhere else. Not to mention all risks regarding healthcare.
I live in the US. I disagree about the hostility towards non-citizens. If you are talking about ICE, it's more about racism. They are not gunning down Brits, Germans or Australians. Agree about the rest. Can I come live in your country? :)
Not from the population itself but the changes to policy and hostility at the border. This includes restricted access even to visas, but also handing over your unlocked phone if you are a foreign national. Nothing of that sort is done when you make a visit for China. In fact, I could go there for 2 weeks without the need for a visa.
For over a year it has actually been the official recommendation to bring a burner phone to the US if you area a European citizen. To me personally, this feels like an invasion of privacy that makes me feel deeply resentful.
Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've read the list of materials that California knows cause cancer and birth defects. It lists things that people encounter every day. Alcoholic beverages, aloe leaf extract and aspirin are some of the most notable examples from the "A" section. https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list
Well, here in France, pregnant women are also discouraged from drinking alcohol because of birth defects. I don't know about aloe extract, but pregnant women are also discouraged from taking aspirin. Here's a random online store selling it, with a big warning for "usage during pregnancy and breastfeeding" (French only): https://lasante.net/nos-medicaments/douleurs-et-fievres/aspi...
Yes, but California requires prominent signs for any business premise where these materials are found, and the incentives are to not provide any further detail about which substances are present. So a gas station will have a Prop 65 sign; is there a hazard beyond automobile exhaust? It's legally less risky for the business to not say. Similarly for a store that sells alcoholic beverages; should customers take protective measures besides not drinking alcohol? It's less risky for the business to not say. The signs are too common, and too vague, to satisfy the intent of the law.
Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
#178As somebody living outside the US, I would find moving to the states highly undesirable even if it wasn't for the hostility towards non-US citizens. To me, it would mean a significant reduction in quality of live and I am low-key scared of all the ingredients and additives in food that are pretty much banned everywhere else. Not to mention all risks regarding healthcare.
If you look at the immigration numbers across the board, apparently most people disagree :) just purely by numbers other than vibes or rare scary scenarios, the living standards in the US make most other OECD countries look poor. Not even speaking of the fact that immigrants can always go back so it's even better for them. I hiked with a guy who lived between US and Canada because he liked US better but needed expens…
Looking at the state of infrastructure, public transportation or the quality of food doesn't exactly make a compelling case for the US. Public schooling isn't something that wants me want to move either. I really enjoy walkable cities and I am absolutely not a car person.
Sure, none of these are a problem if you earn a shitton of money... but where doesn't this apply?
Look, I'm not saying the US is necessarily a bad place to live in but I really enjoy live in a high wellfare societies and will happily trade away a good chunk of my salary for higher quality of living.
Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
#179As somebody living outside the US, I would find moving to the states highly undesirable even if it wasn't for the hostility towards non-US citizens. To me, it would mean a significant reduction in quality of live and I am low-key scared of all the ingredients and additives in food that are pretty much banned everywhere else. Not to mention all risks regarding healthcare.
It really is astounding how bad national brands are. Everything loaded with sugar and salt. Lowest quality ingredients in everything, and I do mean everything. I bought a package of national brand slice turkey. Threw it right away. It was dripping in chlorine. Things like national or regional brand ground beef is vile, and nothing can be done to it to make it edible. I bought a package years ago, grilled up burgers.…
I have no idea why you are getting downvoted. I don't know the specifics, but just comparing the ingredients of foods between the US and the EU really speaks for itself. Just compare something seemingly innocuous like Ketchup ffs.
Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD
#180As somebody living outside the US, I would find moving to the states highly undesirable even if it wasn't for the hostility towards non-US citizens. To me, it would mean a significant reduction in quality of live and I am low-key scared of all the ingredients and additives in food that are pretty much banned everywhere else. Not to mention all risks regarding healthcare.
> even if it wasn't for the hostility towards non-US citizens. The US welcomes more people legally than any other country in the world[0], and half of its politicians think welcoming illegal immigrants is a good idea too. [0] https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/migration?tab=line&coun...
This is irrelevant because of 2 factors:
1. Past policies don't dictate current policies. And current policies are wildly different from policies of 5 years ago, which are again different of policies of 20 years ago and even before that.
2. Amount of immigrants doesn't say anything about standard of living. And we all know immigration (and even illegal immigration) was promoted by all parties because this meant cheaper labor costs. And often also, exploitable labor.
And finaly... it's not a surprised that the third largest country in the world, who was considered an immigrant nations for well over 2 centuries has the most immigrants?