Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich believes the true measure of the economic system doesn’t come from the inventory market, GDP progress, or the variety of jobs; quite, it may be measured precisely on the kitchen tables in America.
“In America, it’s expensive just to be alive,” he stated in a video tweeted by Inequality Media.
Reich raised some essential questions relating to the state of the economic system and indicated financial statistics could not essentially mirror the true state of Americans’ lives.
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“What good are more jobs if those jobs barely pay enough to live on? And what good are lots of jobs if they cause so much stress and take up so much time that our lives are miserable?” he questioned.
“And don’t tell me a good economy is measured by a roaring stock market if the richest 10% of Americans own more than 80% of it. And what good is a large gross domestic product if more and more of the total economy is going to the richest 1%?” he argued.
Corporate Profits: Reich additionally took a sarcastic dig at surging company income. “People who sit at their kitchen tables at night wondering how they are going to pay the bills, they don’t say to themselves — ‘Well, at least corporate profits are at record levels!” he stated.
The Former Labor Secretary identified that firms have document income and CEOs are paid a lot as a result of they’re squeezing extra output from employees however paying decrease wages.
“Traditionally, our economy’s health is measured by the unemployment rate, job growth, the stock market, and overall economic growth. But these don’t reflect the everyday “kitchen table economics” that affect our lives the most. These measures don’t show the real economy,” he stated.
Reich additionally highlighted the truth that over the previous few many years, the true median revenue has barely budged. “This isn’t economic success. It’s economic failure, with a capital F. And instead of looking at the stock market or the GDP, we need to look at who owns what, where the wealth really is,” he stated.
“How many of us are adequately housed and clothed and fed? How many of our kids are getting a good education? How many of us live in safety or in fear? You want to measure economic success — Go to the kitchen tables of America,” Reich stated.
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