Profit Up. Workers Down
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110426-712069.html
The U.S. workforce has peaked in size and may never exceed 2006 levels – at least not for decades.
The Great Recession gives corporations carte blanche to fire people, to do more with less, to increase profit by dramatically increasing worker productivity through job consolidation and software automation.
Today, profitable American (domiciled) firms earn half or more of their profits overseas, selling directly into massive growth in Latin American and Asian demand.
What's left behind at home is essentially a "skeleton crew" of well off, neoliberal managers, lawyers and other professional elites serving hyper-competitive and maximally profitable firms, exploiting broken social and government institutions, pre-determining (corporate-state) politics and bemoaning the aging, under-educated, morbidly obese population they no longer wish to be taxed to support.
The U.S. workforce has peaked in size and may never exceed 2006 levels – at least not for decades.
The Great Recession gives corporations carte blanche to fire people, to do more with less, to increase profit by dramatically increasing worker productivity through job consolidation and software automation.
Today, profitable American (domiciled) firms earn half or more of their profits overseas, selling directly into massive growth in Latin American and Asian demand.
What's left behind at home is essentially a "skeleton crew" of well off, neoliberal managers, lawyers and other professional elites serving hyper-competitive and maximally profitable firms, exploiting broken social and government institutions, pre-determining (corporate-state) politics and bemoaning the aging, under-educated, morbidly obese population they no longer wish to be taxed to support.