The chief economist of the Federal Reserve Bank district located in Minneapolis has done extensive research on the effectiveness of the incentives. Result = little impact on where firms locate HUGE impact on lost revenue for the governments. The firms laugh all the way to the bank.
Bruce Leier Aurora/St. Anthony Commit random acts of literacy! Read & Release at http://www.bookcrossing.com/friend/agitator > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:futurework- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Harry Pollard > Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 13:28 PM > To: 'pete'; [email protected] > Subject: RE: [Futurework] Send to a Friend: Article from TomPaine.com > > Pete, > > Well said. > > This offer of 'inducements' is now the way things are done. > Wal-Mart is just one of many thousands of concerns who take > advantage of the situation. Actually, the offerings may be > so desperately attractive they would be silly not to. > > Towns and cities are acting out a scenario not unlike that > which faces the employee looking for a job. > > There are a lot more unemployed (cities) looking for jobs > (commercial expansion) than there are jobs (commercial > expansion) available. > > Thus, employees will take any job for an income and cities > selling the farm to get some worthwhile building going. > > This is accepted as the way things are. Neither left nor > right look for the causes of the problem. They are too busy > slapping on Band-Aids to wonder why the Band-Aids are > needed. The left wants larger Band-Aids, but little else > separates them. > > Classical Political theory suggests that wages are decided > by freely available rent-free land. If there is rent-free > land available offering the opportunity of (say) a wage of > $10 an hour to the lowest paid workers, then labor will not > work for less. Everyone won't rush back to the land, but > sufficient will settle to cause a labor shortage, which will > everywhere push up the wages of the lower paid. > > The Feds assume (properly so) that the poor give up half > their income for a place to live. A laborer who returns to > the land has the opportunity to build his own house at low > cost. > > I should point out to Malthusians that there is plenty of > land available. In fact if you divided earth's 6 billion > people into nuclear families of four and settled them in > single family homes in the US, each family would have more > than a hectare apiece (2.6 acres). > > Yet, billions of people are pressed into high-priced hovels > and slums. > > Why? > > Certainly it isn't because we are running out of land. > > If our young nuclear family work hard and build a house as > they do, they will not only have a good income but they'll > have good but inexpensive 'affordable' housing. > > How would they get affordable housing? > > The present high "housing" cost is actually a land cost. It > is likely that over the years, house building costs have > dropped - yet 'housing' prices have soared. This is a pure > land-value 'bubble'. > > Before every depression there has always been a wild > speculation in land-values. Current neo-Classical economic > comment is blearily beginning to note this - something the > Classicals analyzed 150 years ago. > > Will there be a depression? Maybe, but government control of > the economy may subdue it even as other problems result. > Classical theory suggests that that just as soaring land > prices lead to the crash, so do rock-bottom prices allow > production to begin an upward movement. The economy picks > up, land prices begin to rise, and we are ready for the > upward curve toward the next crash. > > However, there is a difference. Large landholders who sold > land at high prices can now buy it back for peanuts. This is > a major reason why there is such a high concentration of > land holding and the gulf between rich and poor. > > I've written more than I intended, but I hope you find it > interesting. > > Harry > > ******************************** > Henry George School of Social Science > of Los Angeles > Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 > 818 352-4141 > ******************************** > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > pete > Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 3:55 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [Futurework] Send to a Friend: Article from > TomPaine.com > > > On Wed, 9 Nov 2005, Harry Pollard > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >Sally, > > > >Yet another strike at Wal-Mart, when the attack should > >really be on the politicians that give a myriad companies > >special deals. This has been going on for decades (maybe > for > >centuries). At the moment, in Los Angeles, there is a huge > >effort to attract a football team, with all kinds of > >"incentives" being offered by the Democratic Council. > > I dunno, harry. It read to me as an indictment of the > politicians > who offered the subsidies, at least as much as Walmart for > fishing > for them. You could make a case that if the subsidies are > being > offered, it is just good business for the company to ask for > them. > Of course, a more virtuous company wouldn't do that, but > what is > virtue in commerce? > > >Don't blame a company that brings cheaper prices and better > >quality to the people - blame those bloody politicians who > >make the deals. > > > >As is to be expected, the "meager" wages paid by Wal-Mart > is > >brought up - an indication that this is not exactly an > >impartial view of the goodies that Wal-Mart gets. > > > >I will ask again - if the wages are so poor, why do people > >work there? > > Umm. Because living in your country with even a modest > amount of comfort and security requires an income, and > income requires employment, and employment is in shorter > supply than potential employees. Isn't this true everywhere > in the third world? > > -Pete > > > > >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subject: [Futurework] Send to a Friend: Article from > TomPaine.com > > > >I thought you'd find the following item > >interesting: > > > >http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051109/walmarts_tax_on_u > s.php> > > > >Wonder how widely this is known? > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
