Comments on: Saturday’s Pape’s: Muckraking and Personnel http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/saturday%e2%80%99s-pape%e2%80%99s-muckraking-and-personnel/ Facts, Thoughts, and Commentary Sat, 18 May 2013 04:55:27 +0000 hourly 1 By: Misaki http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/saturday%e2%80%99s-pape%e2%80%99s-muckraking-and-personnel/#comment-175146 Misaki Mon, 21 May 2012 01:05:22 +0000 http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/?p=5171#comment-175146 Also, progressive policies are always good. Even 55% of Republicans would agree.
http://www.people-press.org/2011/12/28/little-change-in-publics-response-to-capitalism-socialism/

]]> By: Misaki http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/saturday%e2%80%99s-pape%e2%80%99s-muckraking-and-personnel/#comment-175116 Misaki Mon, 21 May 2012 00:17:12 +0000 http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/?p=5171#comment-175116 It is somewhat strange that people get upset about Bain Capital laying off workers… even the Republican party used it in arguments… yet the same people think the government should get rid of similarly unnecessary jobs.

(This is assuming that the future value of companies bought by Bain Capital were correctly reflected in the market price for their stocks, meaning that the profitability of those companies really did increase in the long term.)

I guess people just think that government is bad? Or… maybe that corporations are allowed to have unnecessary workers as a perk for making quality products, while since government is funded by taxpayers that are forced to pay taxes there is no excuse for waste.

In other words, they think that corporate profits go to the rich, while it’s actually the middle class that pays most taxes!

…but there’s no point in raising taxes in the rich because everyone wants to think of themselves as rich/well-off, even if they don’t actually own $m’s worth of stock or (other?) financial capital.

]]> By: Jared Bernstein http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/saturday%e2%80%99s-pape%e2%80%99s-muckraking-and-personnel/#comment-174821 Jared Bernstein Sun, 20 May 2012 13:53:20 +0000 http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/?p=5171#comment-174821 Preach on!

]]> By: Jared Bernstein http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/saturday%e2%80%99s-pape%e2%80%99s-muckraking-and-personnel/#comment-174820 Jared Bernstein Sun, 20 May 2012 13:53:08 +0000 http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/?p=5171#comment-174820 Definitely not. A large theme of OTE is exposing the fantasy that is supply-side econ. I urge diversity of views but such diversity should cease at the shore of Fantasy Lake.

]]> By: Tom High http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/saturday%e2%80%99s-pape%e2%80%99s-muckraking-and-personnel/#comment-174757 Tom High Sun, 20 May 2012 11:31:20 +0000 http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/?p=5171#comment-174757 Are you saying in your last paragraph that you want an equal # of supply-siders and Keynesians in the room? I hope you are not saying that.

]]> By: Rima Regas http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/saturday%e2%80%99s-pape%e2%80%99s-muckraking-and-personnel/#comment-174506 Rima Regas Sun, 20 May 2012 05:38:03 +0000 http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/?p=5171#comment-174506 Waste goes on everywhere, in government offices at state, local, and federal level. I suppose the fact that they are publicly-funded makes them a fair target. Waste also goes on in the enterprise. That seldom gets reported on. Companies also end up purchasing goods and services that are grossly overpriced and inflate pricing for everyone else. In my lay opinion, the prime example of waste lies in healthcare, with companies hiring other companies (the insurers) to manage employee plans. I don’t see a $1700 piece of plastic that is the size of someone’s mouth as any less wasteful than the $17,000 helicopter part that could have been purchased for $2,500. Yes, I know. I’m preaching to the choir. Consumers, private, corporate, and bureaucratic, are not educated. If they were, not only wouldn’t there be so much waste, but people would more readily see the value in a single-payer healthcare system.

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