Meme - Crémieux @cremieuxrecueil: "Economists, historians, and the data all agree: Unions did not give us the 40-hour work week—economic growth did."
"Other, more recent empirical work has yielded similar conclusions. For example, Vandenbroucke found, much like Whaples argued, that rising wages and declining costs of recreation could explain the overwhelming majority of the decline in working hours between 1900 and 1950, and though there was a spike in union activity in the 1920s, it arrived after the precipitous decline in working hours circa 1914-19 was completed and while continued decline was already underway. In fact, Vandenbroucke’s chart that conveyed his point about unions arriving after the fact shows quite clearly that unions really hit their stride long after almost all of the progress in shortening working hours had been made:"
Did Unions End Long Work Hours?
Philip Cross: Our downward interventionist economic spiral - "Investor and author Ruchir Sharma’s new book, What Went Wrong With Capitalism , eloquently details how for decades advanced market economies have strayed from the basic principles of market-based competition and pricing. The result has been slower economic growth — which, ironically, has caused many people to question whether capitalism works anymore, which only leads to more growth-killing interventionism. But what is often attributed to market failure is actually government failure. Collectivists have successfully sold the narrative that the Reagan-Thatcher era in the 1980s ushered in neoliberalism and government austerity. Nothing could be further from the truth. Keynesian counter-cyclical government spending was supposed to support the economy during recessions; it now supports the economy throughout the business cycle. At best, Reagan and Thatcher only slowed the rate of increase of government spending. With growing public resistance to higher taxes, the result has been structural budget deficits. Policy-makers remain stuck on the stimulus treadmill: former European Central Bank head Mario Draghi recently recommended the EU spend US$900 billion per year to revive its flagging economy. Nor did the Reagan-Thatcher revolution do much to stop a tidal wave of government rules and regulations, many of which favour entrenched interests and firms. (Sharma’s observation that being “pro-business is not the same as pro-capitalism” is especially true for Canada.) The book documents the increasing use of government subsidies and bailouts, which fuel the growth of “zombie firms” — unprofitable companies that stay in business thanks to support directly from governments or indirectly from private lenders confident bad loans will be made good by government. The labour and capital funnelled to the zombies don’t move to areas with better long-term growth potential. The latest fads in zombie-making intervention are tariffs and industrial policy, notably for green energy projects in Canada and the U.S. Increased government meddling in the marketplace reduces competition and slows the creative destruction — capitalism’s secret sauce — that causes “new firms to rise up and destroy the complacent ones, making the economy ever more productive over time.” This was most evident during the pandemic, when emergency government handouts cut business failures sharply. But the decline in both business startups and failures has persisted for decades. Steadily rising government intervention results in lower productivity and slower growth. That pushes policy-makers to resort to higher fiscal deficits and easy money policies in a futile attempt to boost long-term growth. The recent productivity slowdown is often attributed to a lack of business investment. Outside the U.S. that’s clearly true. It has been especially true in Canada over the past decade. But, as Sharma notes, it is the efficiency and not just the level of investment that is the problem. Pervasive government interventions distort both prices and the allocation of capital, resulting in what Friedrich Hayek called “malinvestments.” Over the past decade, this country has shunned clearly profitable investments in the resource sector while pouring tens of billions into battery manufacture and expensive public transit systems — which so far have failed to persuade commuters to leave their vehicles at home. One theme Sharma does not develop is that governments’ growing inability to deliver results is not due to a lack of resources. Government workforces, spending and regulatory power have all increased in recent years. Even so, government programs falter because of bad management, chronic political meddling (usually for short-term electoral gain), and a workforce that increasingly serves its own interests, not the public’s... e is discouraged by “the supreme irony: modern voters, particularly the young, now demand that leaders show respect for the fragility of natural ecosystems” but at the same time want them to intervene in the economy, “the global ecosystem in which eight billion people do business.” Excessive intervention causes slow growth, which causes disillusionment with capitalism, which encourages even more interventionism, and so on, in a perfect downward spiral."
Loblaw rakes in profits as nation-wide boycott gets underway - "CityNews Business Editor Mike Eppel says, overall, it’s seeing strong sales and profits, but he adds some context. “Yes, the earnings are up, however, $457 million in net profit on $13.7 billion in sales is a 3.5 per cent profit margin, which is very low when you consider Dollarama sees margins north of 20 per cent. Even taking into account the operating earnings at $800 million — it’s a margin of six per cent,” he explained."
Left wingers are just (economically) ignorant, as usual
Cocktails at 7-11! Pray for us at the Centre of the Universe: Selley - "This city is in crisis. This may be my last communiqué before the telex goes down for good, and I feel honour-bound to tell the world of my city’s plight. If the worst should occur, which it almost certainly will, please tell our story. The unthinkable has occurred: Doug Ford’s madmen and women at Queen’s Park have licensed hundreds upon hundreds of new locations — called “convenience stores,” in local parlance — to sell beer, wine, cider and pre-mixed cocktails. They did this instead of fixing health care, if you can believe that. And, outrage upon outrage, the government even made a map of such locations — as if delivering fallen Ontarians one by one to Mr. Booze himself... Ford’s government did this entirely to solicit corporate donations to his party (some say that’s actually illegal, but whatever) from his buddies at convenience-store empires 7-Eleven and Couche-Tard … and presumably from Mimi and Lucy, whoever they are. Very rich women, clearly. Instead of fixing health care! Until recently, some semblance of sanity prevailed: The nearest government-run liquor store to where I sit now is a 15-minute walk away; the nearest Beer Store, the privately owned former quasi-monopoly where you’re still supposed to return your bottles and cans, is nearer to 20 minutes. And now, suddenly, a bottle or can is shockingly near to hand. And this will lead to more alcohol-related harms. Of this there is no doubt, as one expert recently told the Toronto Methodist Star: “Harm will increase in Ontario. That is straightforward.” It is true that many jurisdictions around the world report similar or lower levels of alcohol consumption and related harms than Ontario despite having much greater access to retail alcohol — Italy, Greece, the United States — but that is not germane to this discussion. Ontarians are not like other people. Ontario is not like other places. We are worse. Or maybe better. Or some combination of the two. Among these harms will be a rapid increase in impaired driving, because now there are more retail-alcohol locations within walking distance of Torontonians’ homes. I urge you to resist, where we have failed to, the insidious temptation to find that notion completely stupid and suspect that the opposite will prove true. Theft at these new locations will be rampant, because if there’s anything serial liquor thieves love stealing it’s beer, wine, cider and pre-mixed cocktails. And if there’s anywhere they love stealing it from, it’s a small business that might actually try to stop them — as opposed to the government-run LCBO stores, which proudly let them sashay off with their takings. Convenience stores and their employees, who face fines and loss of their liquor retailing licences for serving underage customers, will naturally be far more likely to sell alcohol to children than government liquor stores and their employees, who face no real consequences. This is an Ontario fact. All this liquor-retail liberalization replaces well-paying union jobs at the LCBO with low-paying, presumably abusive positions in the private sector. (Yes, yes, I understand many new liquor-retailing employees in Ontario are in fact unionized, but a private-sector union isn’t a proper union. Most people should work for the government.)... What Ontario should be doing is emulating countries like Scotland, which has concertedly tackled its alcohol problems using price signals: “The key part of Scotland’s landmark policy was aimed at reducing drinking by introducing minimum unit prices to make drinking more expensive,” the Star recently reported. Disregard the fact that a bottle of hard liquor is both far cheaper in Scotland than in Canada and far more available — i.e., at pretty much any supermarket — and the drinking age is 18. And rural Ontario supermarkets and convenience stores have sold hard liquor, along with everything else, without serious incident for years. None of that is germane to this discussion. Incidentally: Bars and pubs are precisely analogous to supervised-injection sites for opioid addicts. It is thus unconscionable to close supervised-injection sites simply because they’re too close to schools — another Ford-government initiative. It is also unconscionable to put beer-and-wine stores near schools, though. Except the ones that already exist. They seem to be fine. It is entirely uncontroversial for Kelsey’s, Boston Pizza or St-Hubert to serve alcohol alongside their food offerings, of course. But it is nothing short of outrageous for 7-Eleven to be allowed to do so, because, well … ew, gross. And selling alcohol at gas-station convenience stores is unthinkable — except for the scores that already do — while Ontario enjoys some of the safest roads in the nation. I should note that while increased prices are a good thing to keep consumption down, they are not a good thing if it’s convenience stores and supermarkets implementing the markup. Then they’re a bad, anti-consumer thing... Admittedly, it’s conceivable that after a few weeks of novelty, no one will ever talk about any of this ever again. No one thinks of Quebec as an alcohol-ravaged hellhole, after all, despite running the same basic system Ford’s government is implementing. Or Italy, for that matter. But Ontarians are different. Ontario is different. Torontonians and Toronto, above all, are different. Worse, but also better — but also worse. What works in other places doesn’t work here; rather, it leads to disaster. Except when it doesn’t. So remember us, please, when the worst comes to pass. And in the meantime, please stop laughing at us."
Ironically, when it comes to their endless wishlist, left wingers usually claim that nothing stops people from working on more than one thing at once, or that you shouldn't begrudge people their happiness
Left wingers just hate choice and love government monopolies
Meme - rbreich: "McDonald's will extend its "$5 meal deal" to win back cash-strapped customers. This comes after years of price increases, which led to its net income jumping 37% last year. Meanwhile, McDonald's CEO made $19.2M. They could have kept prices lower all along. They chose not to."
lorenanroger: "So, if the CEO of McDonalds worked for free and the cost of his salary was deducted ftom the price of a burger, it would lower each burgers price by 1/10 of one cent, $0.001. If the McDonalds shareholders gave back their dividends, it would lower the burger price by 26 cents. After all their costs, McDonalds profits amount to about 50 cent per burger. So, where does all the money go? It trickles down to suppliers of every kind and employees."
Is Robert Reich the most economically illiterate economic advisor ever? Plus he's ignorant about how McDonald's is a franchise or that it's a time-limited deal which might be losing them money
The silliest, politically motivated tax policies in Canada - "“tax the rich” or “it’s not fair that the rich have all the tax breaks” are often rallying cries for those left of centre. Even if you show them how much tax the so-called rich are paying, they will often keep trumpeting their rallying cries. It would often be more intellectually honest for such people to simply say, “We want the rich to pay all the tax.” Crazy, sure, but more honest. Another silly opinion is that the solution to Canada’s fiscal problems is to “tax all the money that is sitting offshore.” For sure, we should chase pots of gold and rainbows that don’t exist. Nutty, despite all the “studies” that certain think tanks regularly pump out. Ideally, politics and ideology should be minimized when introducing taxation policy. Without such minimization, taxation policy can quickly become nutty. Here are some recent examples, both federally and provincially.
1. The 2016 increase to personal taxation rates by the Liberals, which promptly introduced a new top-end bracket with a four percentage point increase upon taking office. This pushed marginal rates at the high end to more than 50 per cent in many provinces. There was no sound policy reason to do so, but it was ultimately all about politics. It didn’t raise taxation revenues as predicted; it was a revenue loser.
2. The new prohibition on deductions for short-term rental owners who operate in a municipality that prohibits such rentals. This measure is very dangerous since it puts drug dealers and many other illegal business operators on better footing than those evil short-term rental operators (drug dealers et al would be allowed to deduct their business expenses for tax purposes if they chose to report their income … which, of course, many do not). This measure is all politics. And, frankly, one of the dumbest rules in tax law.
3. The new capital gains inclusion rate increase, which was cloaked around having the so-called rich pay just a little bit more, dealing with intergenerational fairness and ensuring employees are treated just as fairly as those who realize capital gains since the latter have a “capital gains advantage.” Ugly politics and a simple tax grab.
4. British Columbia Premier David Eby recently promised to increase the speculation tax on real estate (first introduced in 2018) if he gets re-elected during this month’s election. This tax is supposedly in place to try to turn vacant homes into usable housing. Other municipalities have followed suit. Ditto with the federal government and the ridiculous Underused Housing Tax. Are these taxes effective? Doubtful. For example, the B.C. government said it collected $81 million in 2022 from the tax (which doesn’t account for the administrative costs). Minister of Finance Katrine Conroy said the money raised was used to build long-term rentals. Yeah, right. I’d love to go pay a site visit to those long-term rentals. Instead, this pittance of revenues is a nuisance and a drag on productivity.
5. Speaking of the B.C. election, the Conservative Party of B.C. recently promised to abolish taxes on those who receive tips in the hospitality industry. That appears to be following promises by the presidential candidates in the United States. Frankly, this is silly. If you abolish tax on tips, how about abolishing tax on other taxable benefits that are received by others outside the hospitality industry? That would only be fair, right?
6. The Government of Canada in 2022 introduced the Select Luxury Items Tax Act to charge buyers of certain luxury cars, boats and airplanes an additional tax to the extent the price of the item was above certain thresholds. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, in introducing this new tax in the 2021 federal budget, said, “It’s also fair to ask those who have prospered in this bleak year to do a little more to help those who still need help. That is why we are introducing a luxury tax on new cars and private aircraft.” In its first year of implementation, the government raised only $137 million (less than budgeted) and incurred $19 million to administer the new tax. Again, a pittance and pathetic politics.
7. The proliferation of personal tax credits — the children’s fitness credit, arts tax credit, transit pass tax credit of years past — are examples of blatant politics. Thankfully, these credits have disappeared, but only to be replaced by other measures by Justin Trudeau’s government, such as the teachers supply credit.
The list is almost endless, so I could go on and on, but as the famous playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always rely on the support of Paul.”"
Better tax treatment of capital gains will improve economy - "The most recent research, released by economist Jack Mintz last week, concludes that the inclusion rate increase will cause Canada’s capital stock to fall by $127 billion, employment will decline by 414,000, gross domestic product (GDP) will fall by almost $90 billion and real per-capita GDP will decline by three per cent. Troubling conclusions. Others go on and on about “tax breaks” or “fairness” when it’s obvious they do not have a fulsome understanding of our country’s tax system. But my favourite is “a buck is a buck is a buck.” That line is a summarized phrase from the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Taxation that was convened in 1962 to study the taxation system and make suggestions for improvement... It ignores a very important feature that other countries around the world recognize when treating capital gains preferentially from a tax perspective — risk... Employment risk is not entrepreneurial or investor risk. It’s completely different. For those who say it is, I often challenge them to “put their money where their mouth is” and become an entrepreneur."
Quote of the day - "Everyone wants to live at the expense of the State. They forget that the State lives at the expense of everyone. - Frédéric Bastiat"
I know this is like…*extremely* obvious to anyone with a brain : r/batman - "But I was just realizing how flawed bruce wayne really is as a person. Seriously. The guy has more money than god and could easily fund social programs that can be world changing for society. But what does he do instead? Runs around the city at nighttime in a costume beating up “bad guys” who are mostly just mentally ill henchmen (obviously some of the victims were rightfully assaulted lol) that would benefit more from rehabilitative care and stable employment rather than being brutally assaulted. I’m really only a fan of nolan’s trilogy, some of the animated series, and battinson, and haven’t really gotten into the comics which I’m sure dive deeper into the social commentary of the story. I guess the main themes become more apparent as you age because as a kid I really couldn’t find any flaws in batman and he was just a perfect hero to me. Now, I look at wealth disparity, poverty, capitalism, depression, etc etc and COMPLETELY agree with Alfred- Bruce’s resources and knowledge were most needed. Not his body or life. So much more progress could have been achieved if he had allocated his money towards meaningful projects that could improve human wellbeing: paying for people’s healthcare costs, creating projects where he could employ people and pay them enough, building free or affordable housing, lobbying politicians with all his money for meaningful change, etc. Never thought I’d see the day where I found Alfred to be the “cool” character and not a complete wuss lol Anyway, thanks for reading my very obvious character analysis"
"Largest single donor to Gotham's Children's Hospital. Largest single donor to Leslie Tompkins Free Clinic. Built and funded the Elliot Memorial Hospital. Largest single donor to Gotham's Halfway Houses. Built and maintains numerous low-cost housing projects, which he also quake-proofed, so we can assume they're kept to a high standard. Started the Wayne Foundation, the charity branch of Wayne Enterprises that supports various charitable efforts and grants to underprivileged and at risk people. Started the Thomas Wayne Foundation, a charitable organisation for medicine and medical aid, that funds new medical research and provides medical insurance for those who can't afford it. Started the Martha Wayne Foundation, a charitable organisation for the arts, families and education, and tolerance. Funded the Neon Knights, an outreach program for gangs and at-risk youth. Wayne Enterprises also offers employment to ex-convicts. And all employees of Wayne Enterprises, including unpaid interns, are eligible for a grant towards higher education. All of that is how he spends his money. Being Batman is about how he spends his time. And he spends his time as a free roaming one man SWAT Team, Fire Brigade, EMT Paramedic, CSI Investigator, Beat Patroller and Detective, moving throughout Gotham, doing as much as he can to save people being victimised by others."
Left wingers are never satisfied as long as the rich are still rich, because they just hate the rich
Meme - Crayon 1 "The Public"
Economic Collapse: *graffiti on wall*
Crayon 2 "Free Market"
Crayon 3 "Government": *pointing to Free Market* "He did it."
Meme - Colin Wright @SwipeWright: "This exchange perfectly exemplifies the woke progressive belief that redefining words to distort people's perception of reality is justified if done in the name of Social Justice. In her initial post, @ninaturner claims that the distinction between "skilled" and "unskilled" labor is false and must be eliminated, asserting that "ALL labor is skilled." However, when someone challenges her, pointing out that the terms "skilled" and "unskilled" make a meaningful distinction reflecting important aspects of reality, Turner reveals the real game she's playing. She doesn't actually believe there is no distinction between skilled and unskilled labor, nor that "ALL labor is skilled." Instead, she openly admits that her attempt to obfuscate these terms is rooted in her desire for unskilled laborers to be paid more: "The separation of 'skilled' and 'unskilled' labor is used to justify poverty wages." As I note, she could just say that instead of taking the gaslighting Queer Theory approach that lies to our faces. Woke progressives employ this tactic with just about everything, altering definitions or blurring distinctions between terms in hopes of distorting people's perception of reality to advance their political objectives. It's worth exposing whenever you see it."
Nina Turner @ninaturner: "Cooking fries at McDonald's is skilled labor. Ringing people out at Dollar General is skilled labor. ALL labor is skilled labor and deserves a living wage."
Jay Jeffrey (JJ) @Jeffrey100: "When someone can watch someone do something one time and are able to do the job, that's not really a unique skill. If everyone - literally everyone - can do a job, it's not skilled. Skill implies education and practice. I agree with a living wage, but let's not stretch facts."
Nina Turner @ninaturner: "The separation of "skilled" and "unskilled" labor is used to justify poverty wages."
Colin Wright @SwipeWright: "Then just say that you think unskilled laborers should be paid more instead of trying to blur the distinction between skilled and unskilled labor."
Meme - Robert Reich @RBReich: "Kroger:
-Had gross profit margins above 20% over the last 5 years
-Is using "dynamic pricing" to gouge us further
-Paid its CEO $15 million, 502x a typical Kroger employee
-Wants to acquire Albertsons so you have nowhere else to shop
Corporate greed at its absolute worst."
Readers added context they thought people might want to know: "Kroger's net profit margin was 1.43% for the quarter ending April 30, 2024. This is in line with the industry average 1.6%. The gross profit margin figure stated here does not include operating expenses."
It's remarkable how often Robert Reich is wrong
Meme - evan loves worf @esjesjesj: "They've been whining about the debt for 40 years. We literally never have to pay it back. It's a fake issue"
Wall Street Silver @wallStreetSilv: "The interest on the debt alone is exploding, up 37% from a year ago. It already costs over $1 trillion a year and will cost $3 trillion annually in less than a decade. It's already bigger than military spending and will soon be the largest item in the whole budget. The Fed will be forced to print money to pay for it, and inflation will go to the moon."
evan loves worf @esjesjesj: "Americans: The government should tax wealth to then help the poor and the needy"
This is why left wingers are broke
Meme - Charles Lajoie 🗽🔰 @lemechantneolib: "Libertarians answering with "wtf happened in 1971?" are wrong too. There has been no decoupling of total worker compensation and labor productivity. Wages haven't grown as much because non-wage benefits did instead."
"Total Worker Compensation and Productivity since 1973"
Workers’ Compensation: Growing Along with Productivity
Fred @uncleFredsTweet: "Capitalism can be summarized in purchasing means of production at minimum price and selling products at maximum while accumulating profits in order to accelerate the process and ultimately corner the market. In short, buy low, sell high."
"Disconnect between productivity and a typical worker's compensation, 1948-2014
Stolen Labor = Consumer Debt"
Richard Hanania on X - "In 2021, Congress set aside $42.5 billion to bring high speed internet connections to rural areas. Not a single person has been connected to the internet yet. One reason is bureaucratic hurdles, like requiring providers to prioritize the hiring of criminals."
Why Has Biden's $42 Billion Broadband Program Not Connected One Single Household? - "Carr blames the delay on "the addition of a substantive wish list of progressive ideas" to the approval process. In an April 2023 letter to Davidson, 11 Republican U.S. senators warned that "NTIA's bureaucratic red tape and far-left mandates undermine Congress' intent and would discourage participation from broadband providers while increasing the overall cost of building out broadband networks." Among several examples, the senators noted that NTIA's BEAD proposal "requires subgrantees to prioritize certain segments of the workforce, such as 'individuals with past criminal records' and 'justice-impacted […] participants.'" The infrastructure law that authorized the program merely required contractors to be "in compliance with Federal labor and employment laws."... Multiple representatives from the telecommunications industry told MinnPost this week that they had no interest in applying for a piece of Minnesota's $652 million in BEAD grants. Brent Christensen, president and CEO of Minnesota Telecom Alliance, which represents 70 Minnesota telecom companies, said, "None of them would bid for the federal grants because of the regulations that would come with it—especially the requirement to provide low-cost services to low-income households in exchange for grants that would allow internet providers to build out their networks." MinnPost noted that new state laws also "requir[e] companies who receive state grants to pay workers a 'prevailing wage,' a basic hourly rate paid on public works projects to a majority of workers in a particular occupation." Since the federal government's prevailing wage list does not include telecom workers, "companies in Minnesota would have to pay more because they would have to use a similar, but higher-paying, classification." "It's becoming clear that it might be too risky to participate in the program," Melissa Wolf, executive director of the Minnesota Cable Communications Association, told the outlet. Fortunately, the private sector is expanding access to broadband on its own"
Maybe the main reason government projects in the US and Canada are expensive, slow and lousy is because the left wing wishlist is endless, so the core mission is an afterthought to pushing the left wing agenda
Richard Hanania on X - "I hate the term “working class” to mean poor. As if everyone who is better off doesn’t actually work, they’re all landed gentry. Richer people work longer hours and often much harder than the poor."
Meme - Feminist News: "Taylor Swift a self-made billionaire woman who did it without lying. cheating or stealing. Who donates money to the needy in every town she has a concert. Who outsmarted a man who tried to steal her music by re-recording all of it. Who by all accounts seems to be a nice person and great role model... Every time you bash Taylor, you are telling your daughters and granddaughters that you don't respect successful women"
Libertarian Jesus: "Reality check. Her dad was a wealthy financial advisor who bought a large stake in the Nashville record label she built her career at. She's no more self made than Donald Trump."
Libertarian Jesus | Facebook - "Also, Feminist News forgets to mention they both donated lots of money to help with the 2016 Baton Rouge Flood. These two have way more in common than either side wants to admit."
UK's new Labour government unveils overhaul of workers' rights - "The bill will also increase the likelihood of requests for flexible working arrangements to be granted, and require large employers to produce action plans on how to address gender pay gaps and support employees through menopause, as well as strengthening rights for pregnant workers and new mothers. Unions have welcomed the measure as a “seismic shift” from the low-pay, low-productivity economy they accused the previous Conservative government of presiding over."
Clearly, more regulation improves productivity
Crémieux on X - "The relationship between family wealth and children's intelligence is often misunderstood to be a causal one. By leveraging the randomness of lotteries, we can see that the relationship disappears once we're looking at unconfounded wealth."