She and Mitt Romney and the Koch brothers should go on a double date.... Perhaps in Burkina Fasso, where they would feel comfortable tipping "generously"?
Cheers, Lawry On Sep 7, 2012, at 3:00 PM, Ray Harrell wrote: > > World's richest woman lauds $2-a-day wages > <image001.jpg> > Paul Kane / Getty Images > Easy for her to say. Gina Rinehart, chairman of Hancock Prospecting and > listed as the world's richest woman, has put her silver foot in her mouth > again, lauding African miners' willingness to work for $2 a day. > > By Martha C. White, NBC News contributor > An Australian mining heiress who courted controversy last month for > suggesting her countrymen were just too lazy to be rich is at it again. > Gina Rinehart, thought to be the world's richest woman, chastised miners for > being “too expensive,” saying, “Africans want to work. Its workers are > willing to work for less than $2 per day.” > > In a 10-minute recording posted on YouTube to the Sydney Mining Club, > Rinehart lambasted the domestic mining industry, saying it couldn’t compete > in a global marketplace. “Not with Australian prices,” she said. She also > railed against the country’s carbon tax and regulatory “red tape.” > But Rinehart’s most inflammatory statement by far was the comparison between > Australian miners and those who work in developing African nations. “Such > statistics make me worry for this country’s future,” she said. > > Rinehart’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke from Australia’s Prime Minister, and > it is doubtful that even those African mineworkers would agree with > Rinehart’s endorsement of a sub-two-dollar daily wage. Violence flared at a > South African platinum mine three weeks ago after workers demanded what media > outlet AFP characterized as a near-tripling of their monthly wages to roughly > $1,500 (12,500 South African rand). > > This isn’t Rinehart’s first jab at Australia’s working class. In a recent > article, she wrote, “If you're jealous of those with more money... spend less > time drinking, or smoking and socialising and more time working.” That remark > touched off its own media firestorm, with politicians and pundits alike > pointing out that Rinehart acquired the source of her wealth simply by being > born into the right family. > > Rinehart inherited privately-held Hancock Prospecting, a company founded by > her father. Forbes magazine has listed her net worth at $18 billion as of > March. > The Australian press reported that the company made a $225 million after-tax > profit on revenue of $738 million in 2009, and that Rinehart was fighting a > regulatory order to make public more recent financial records. This isn’t > Rinehart’s only legal battle; she is also involved in an ongoing dispute with > three of her four children over family assets. > > Blaming Australian wages for “uncompetitive” export prices on iron ore is a > fallacy, said Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution. It > oversimplifies in that it fails to take into account better technology and > transportation infrastructure and worker skills that could offset higher > labor costs or make a smaller number of workers more productive. > Rinehart’s hypothetical $2-a-day workers also might not have comparable > education and skills, Burtless pointed out. A report by Australia’s National > Institute of Labour Studies for the Minerals Council of Australia predicted > that the mining industry will need an additional 86,000 workers by the end of > the decade. Prompted by the report, the Council launched an adult > apprenticeship program “developed to specifically address the growing > shortage of workers in the minerals and energy sectors.” > > Burtless said Rinehart also ignored what he called “the most obvious factor > that makes Australia an attractive place to do business” — a legal and > regulatory infrastructure that protects private property, assets > andinvestments. “They enjoy an outstanding international reputation for > fairness and transparency," he said. "For how many countries in Africa can we > say the same thing?” > > Then you might want to check this out. > http://www.businessinsider.com/how-rich-people-think-differently-from-the-poor-2012-8?op=1 > > This is the world that economic theory has given us. Robert Coles it's not > but it is the world of Strategic Thinking about money and giving which makes > "Free Riding" the ultimate public good. > > REH > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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