re-regulating our economy

45degreeN · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:34 am Post subject: re-regulating our economy

It seems that we have come to the point where there is no loyalty for the workers in any of our big businesses and total loyalty to the stock holders. A complete turn around since the fifties when we had good worker benefits and it seemed America cared for her workers.

Pension funds have been turned over to the government for paying the defined benefits that were previously agreed to by the workers and their corporate boards. Mine disasters because of lack of proper regulation and time and time again corporate greed leading to worker pain and suffering. (no those stock holders don't feel the pain at all). I confess that I used to be a libertarian but not any more.

It used to be a good time to be a worker in America, now it seems we are just an unimportant cog in the vast machinery that makes America's profit great. Workers being the simple unavoidable part of the whole corporate pie. It is so easy to transfer as many jobs as we can to China. the Chinese workers dont complain when their benefits get cut since they have so little benefits there.

That Utah mine owner should forfeit his ownership due to the corporate greed and political corruption he exhibited when he avoided taking the safety measures he should have taken. He gave more in political contributions than he paid to the workers who earn him the profits he made, is that being short sighted or what?

We in America need to re-regulate our corporate economy, we need to ensure compliance with these new rules for the safety and lives of our workers and then maybe we can renew the value of what it means to be an American.
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saintmichaeldefendthem · Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 9:30 pm Post subject:

With respect, the answer to corporate greed is not more regulation, but less.

Consider the oil companies, whose CEO's retire with a $400 million dollar golden parachute. This isn't happening because of capitalism, but a lack thereof. Consider how the "big 5" have an oligopoly that pre-empts any more players from coming to the table. I love it when Rush Limbaugh ditto heads ask me what beef I have against capitalism. (Rush is a relentless sycophant for big oil) I reply that I would like to see some capitalism. A truly free market, rich in competition, would not allow such windfall profits while single moms struggle to pay $3.50 a gallon, a result of conveniently planned shortages, to line the pockets of corporate fat cats.

You were right on the money when you were Libertarian. We (libertarians) believe that government has specific and limited functions, and when government is meddling where it should not, it breeds corruption and disparity. China and Russia are very good examples of how government regulation only made people very rich, or very poor.

Yet, it's precisely because of government that corporations are able to commit the atrocities that we witness every day. We have been so careful to make sure that the State didnt influence the Church, or vice versa, that we ignored a collusion that worked much more to our chagrin.

Leftists try to take the product of capitalism and redistribute it, a very self defeating act. People don't make money to have it taken away. Right wingers try to convince you that corporate greed is good for America. Only Libertarians present a model that most closely resembles a level playing field. Get rid of all obstacles to real Adam Smith capitalism and allow the free market to create the greatest amount of opportunity (as opposed to guaranteed outcome) for everyone's personal pursuit of happiness.

45degreeN · Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:29 am Post subject:

an unregulated airline industry means that we have a 33% late arrivals, less service in the air due to cost cutting and a system of air traffic control that is 30 years out of date. It also means that labor agreements between airlines and their employees are violated when an airline refuses to honor its retirement program (United by the way) and the government picks up the difference.

When 10 different airlines want the same departure time many of them will just not leave at that time simply because it is physically impossible for them all to leave at the same time, yet the free market would lead us to believe that is a good thing. The whole airline industry is in chaos and this is according to Adam Smith's free market.

The mine in Utah is another case where free market thinking failed to make life work for those miners. The coal industry has repeatedly failed to make concessions to safety and six miners needlessly died in the initial collapse and another three more trying to rescue them. It is only the mine owners and stockholders who stood to gain from the free market and the miners who died saw none of it.
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