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Thursday, February 3, 2022

Psst: Want to know why Americans are gloomy about the "best" economy since 1984? - By Robert Reich

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Dr. Reich continues to be a mouthpiece for the far left, pretending to be a truth-teller, but spouting only agitprop. He's rather clever in the way he delivers his message, because the casual reader would nod his head in agreement. But a closer examination reveals logical inconsistencies, the omission of key facts, and a manipulation of events and history designed to promulgate The Narrative.
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Hint: It's not inflation.

How can it be that the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace since 1984 last year (according to yesterday’s report from the Commerce Department) (Who was president in 1984, Dr. Reich?)

but most Americans remain gloomy about the economy, and blame Biden and the Democrats? (Because democrats shut down the economy for COVID and therefore should not get credit for its comeback. And because democrats and spineless republicans want to throw good money after bad on hairbrained subsidies, stimuli, and bailouts which do nothing but enrich crony corporate interests. 

Businesses got multi-millions, individuals get hundreds. 

And all these dollars are created out of thin air. Government doesn't have the money, it just prints it. Increasing the money supply devalues the dollar. That is inflation, and the blame is to be laid at the big spenders in government.)

The New York Times declares that the cause of this paradox is inflation: “Biden is suffering in the polls as high inflation saps confidence in the economy, even as growth comes in strong.”

Rubbish. Americans are gloomy about the economy despite its record growth because most Americans haven’t shared in that growth. (So Dr. Reich knows why Americans [all Americans] feel the way they do. How does he know this? Well, he doesn't. He's simply following the leftist Narrative.

However, Americans see real-world price increases and shortages, they are attempting to make their budgets work in this "new normal," but Dr. Reich blasts back at them. From his highly salaried lofty perch in a comfy office he tells them that it isn't really about inflation, it's about not getting their piece of the pie. This is the typical leftist arrogance. They know better than you what's good for you, what you ought to think, what your choices should be, and where your money is best spent. 

Ironically, Dr. Reich celebrates democrats for an economic comeback caused by democrats shutting down the economy, but the economic comeback caused by the democrats isn't benefitting average Americans. What?

And by the way, take a look at the Gallup polling:


Dr. Reich is simply attempting damage control and diversion from the real issue.)

If you really want to understand this, a good place to begin is with the corporation often considered the most socially responsible in the nation — Starbucks. (This will be a largely irrelevant detour, with the sole purpose of criticizing Starbucks for not being Left enough. We shall redact it.)

(...)

(End of irrelevant tangent.) Now zoom out to the economy as a whole. Could it be that Americans are gloomy despite the economy’s record growth because the super-rich are taking home an ever-larger share of those gains while most people are getting the crumbs? (He now asks the question, whereas he previously asserted with certainty that this is the case.)

Is it possible they blame Biden and the Democrats for promising to change this but, after a good start, not delivering? (We cannot speak for what Leftists believed about Biden and the democrats, but we are confident that it was probably false. And we endlessly thankful they are not delivering on their promises.)

Starbuck’s progressive branding (Back to Starbucks, for no discernable reason.)

has helped it sell lots of coffee. Yet Starbucks faces a growing dilemma — not unlike the dilemma facing Biden and the Democrats. Starbucks’s young, progressive baristas are no longer willing to tolerate Starbucks’s hypocrisy. Since two Starbucks stores voted to unionize in late August, workers in dozens of other Starbucks stores across the country have filed petitions for elections.

Starbucks can’t have it both ways — promoting itself as the face of socially-responsible capitalism while treating its workers like shit.

Biden and the Democrats may be facing a similar paradox — promising a fundamental change in the power structure of America (What? They promised fundamental change? They ARE and have been the power structure.)

while allowing big corporations and the super-rich to continue enlarging their wealth and power. (Dr. Reich would have to explain where the Constitution grants government the power to intervene in this.)

Biden and the Democrats can’t have it both ways, either. (They have certainly tried to have it both ways for decades, pretending to be for the working man while simultaneously cozying up to big donors and corporate cronies.)

Perhaps it was too much to expect Biden and the Dems to alter a trend that’s been growing for four decades (Indeed, it was too much to expect, because Biden and the Dems ARE the trend. How long has Biden been in government? Pelosi? Schumer?)

as large corporations have steadily gained bargaining power (a handful of big firms now dominate most industries), while hourly wage earners have steadily lost it (the share of private-sector workers in unions has plummeted from over 30 percent to 6.1 percent). This power shift is directly reflected in the increasing share of economic gains going to the top, and decreasing share to everyone else.

But it’s important for Biden and the Democrats to avoid the trap of Starbucks-like hypocrisy. (Hypocrisy has never bothered them before.)

Biden and the Dems need to tell the truth about what’s happening: American workers are not losing ground due to inflation. They are losing ground because they continue to lose bargaining power. (Dr. Reich previously claimed that people ought not blame inflation, but rather they should blame wealth disparity. Now he moves the goalposts and speciously claims there is no inflation.)

The economy grew mightily over the past year but the share going to most American workers continues to shrink. (Who is the President again? Who controls the House? The Senate?

We were unable to locate any wealth disparity data past 2016, which is odd. Trump's presidential performance in this area appears to be a closely guarded secret. However, the charts and graphs clearly depict the Obama presidency as a time of increasing wealth disparity, particularly among blacks. Hmm.)

Starbucks’s workers have had enough corporate hypocrisy. They’re beginning to take power back by organizing at the grass roots. Will most Americans become so fed up with their declining share of the economy’s gains that they too decide to take power back?

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