Thursday, June 2, 2011

A Corporate 2x4 Upside The Head?

Robert Reich

How to Get Washington's Attention

We're coming full circle: The stock market is dropping because corporate earnings are slowing. Corporate earnings are slowing because consumers are pulling back. Consumers are pulling back because they don't have enough jobs or adequate wages.

The leaders of the Street and big business may now have to wake up to a reality they've tried to avoid — that the central economic problem of our time isn't the long-term budget deficit but the immediate deficit in aggregate demand.

They may not yet see the necessity of a renewed social contract linking pay to per capita productivity, but they will understand something must be done to fuel jobs and wages.

Never underestimate the power of Wall Street and big business to set the terms of the economic debate in our nation's capital. After all, Wall Street and big business pay the tab of politicians on both sides of the aisle. Even if the middle class can't get the attention our representatives in Washington, those who fund their campaigns can.

The question is - will they? They've stolen damn near all the money already. What more do they need?

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