Originally Posted By CrouchingTigger Here's a fascinating article I thought might be of interest to LPers in WE. I haven't watched the video as I can't get to Youtube at work. The author is a billionaire investor. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/middle-class-cant-get-ahead/">http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ma...t-ahead/</a> A couple of interesting quotes: In 1975, more than 65 percent of salaried American workers earned time-and-a-half pay for every hour worked over 40 hours a week. ... By 2013, just 11 percent of salaried workers qualified for overtime pay, according to a report published by the Economic Policy Institute. And so business owners like me have been able to make the other 89 percent of you work unlimited overtime hours for no additional pay at all. ... In my defense, I’m only playing by the rules—rules written by and for wealthy capitalists like me. But the main point is this: These are rules that President Barack Obama has the power to change with the stroke of a pen, and with no prior congressional approval. ... Of course, capitalists like me will tell you that when we cut into profits, the entire economy is damaged. And think of all the investment that corporate profits make possible. What do executives like me do with all that extra money? Why, invest in creating good-paying jobs for middle-class Americans like you, of course. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly true either. Mostly, we use profits to manipulate our stock price for personal gain. ... Ever wonder why the stock market is soaring again, while the real economy is just slogging along? Buybacks are a big reason. According to data compiled by Mustafa Erdem Sakinç of The Academic-Industry Research Network, public U.S. corporations of all sizes have spent an astonishing $6.9 trillion on stock buybacks over the past decade alone. $6.9 trillion! That’s about enough to run the entire federal government—for two years!
