The late Louis Kelso recognized this problem many years ago. In addition to his widely known Employee Stock Ownerhship Plan, utilized by about 11,000 companies, he advocated a Second Income Plan.
The latest incarnation is a Capital Homestead Act. See SECOND INCOMES FOR ALL, at www.aesopinstitute.org The book Binary Economics provides a comprehensive analysis for anyone interested. ________________________________ From: OrionWorks - Steven V Johnson <svj.orionwo...@gmail.com> To: vortex-l@eskimo.com Sent: Friday, October 14, 2011 12:19 PM Subject: Re: [Vo]:More drama: open letter to Christos Stemmenos from Defkalion GT Understanding the underlying economics of how many consumer products (like the iPad) are manufactured is going to be a difficult and soul-searching process for most Americans. This probably goes for the entire developed world as well. As is becoming obvious to most of us that care to dig a little into the matter, the dirty little secret behind why many consumer products are "cheap" is because they were assembled by hoards individuals who are being paid wages that are a fraction of what it would cost to assemble if they were assembled within our own affluent borders. An irony in all of this is the fact that for many of these individuals the sub-standard wages (at least from our perspective) for which they are being paid is probably better than what they could get anywhere else in their own country. This, of course, does not in any way, shape, or form condone the fact that many of these workers are being exploited in reprehensible ways by their employer, and perhaps by their own government as well. For a very long time economists and policy makers have felt obligated to grapple with the following conundrum: ONE: Should developed countries continue to assemble consumer products outside of their borders in less developed economies, in places where labor is a fraction of what it would cost if assembled domestically in order to make the products cheaper, so that in theory more of "us" in the developed world can afford to buy them. Or TWO... do the developed countries endeavor to rehire assembly workers within their own borders at significantly higher wagers, which in turn boosts the price of the product, which in theory means less of "us" in the developed countries can afford to buy them. It always seemed to be a trade off. But then, as books like "Lights in The Tunnel" by Martin Ford are making clear, the above age-old conundrum may soon no longer apply anymore. Advances in automation, robotics, and AI may sooner than we realize render it uneconomical to hire workers in even the cheapest underdeveloped countries - because it's cheaper to "hire" a robot do it. How each country's currency will continue to get evenly and fairly distributed throughout their borders (in order to keep consumer-based economies running), where more and more jobs are slowing being taken over by robots and AI systems, is going to be a major task future governments are going to have to confront head on. Refusing to grapple with it will do us all in. PS: I also read Martin Ford's book "Lights in the Tunnel" on my brand new iPAD2. Mr. Rothwell was the individual who first brought the book to my attention. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
