Business, Economics, and Taxes: Eat Cereal for Dinner

[Slap Shot]

My cousin is "in" Wall Street. And I disagree with you. The biggest asset anyone in Wall Street has is information. Because they don't want to be caught out. If they know the numbers suck, they start selling off big time before they get caught with their pants down.

They said the same thing about the .com frenzy. All pyramid bubbles eventually burst (or go through a significant correction).

Eventually, the shit will hit the fan.

I think the problem is that the system is rigged to benefit them even when the market "should" be betting against them.

Historically this country flourished at its most when business owners reinvested in the business. Yet we have companies making all-time record margins despite the fact the only "reinvestment" they've done are stock buy-backs.

Shareholders don't give a shit about anything but their share price and corporate heads and boards are in turn too beholden to their demands.

And Democrats are equally to blame for refusing to enact legislation to directly challenge these motives in the rare circumstances when they had full control of Congress. They could returned corporate and top earner tax rates to pre-Reagan rates and never did.

And at this point I don't know if it will ever get back.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

The Capital institute may be something a few of you find interesting. Led by a reformed JP banker, they look at new ways to frame economic systems since the one we have ain’t working

 

[psych]

I think the problem is that the system is rigged to benefit them even when the market "should" be betting against them.

Historically this country flourished at its most when business owners reinvested in the business. Yet we have companies making all-time record margins despite the fact the only "reinvestment" they've done are stock buy-backs.

Shareholders don't give a shit about anything but their share price and corporate heads and boards are in turn too beholden to their demands.

And Democrats are equally to blame for refusing to enact legislation to directly challenge these motives in the rare circumstances when they had full control of Congress. They could returned corporate and top earner tax rates to pre-Reagan rates and never did.

And at this point I don't know if it will ever get back.

Are Democrats to blame? Yes. But equally to blame? Not sure you can get me there on that one.

I’ll add that I agree with basically everything else you wrote.

 

[Kepler]

And Democrats are equally to blame for refusing to enact legislation to directly challenge these motives in the rare circumstances when they had full control of Congress. They could returned corporate and top earner tax rates to pre-Reagan rates and never did.

Because they were bought.

Remember though that this situation will not last forever. Evolution or revolution. The scumbags have forgotten the lesson of history: once people recognize they are screwed they will slaughter you. The whole purpose of the welfare state was to con people into believing capitalism worked for them. The ideologues who literally believed "taxation is theft," and weren't just cynically using it as rhetoric to move the Overton Window, were like French lords sitting on horseback at Agincourt believing archers and peasants with pikes couldn't possibly hurt them because they had a literal divine mandate.

The rich got high on their own supply. You could see it building with Bunker Hunt in the 70s, small l libertarians in the 90s, and Paul Ryan in the 10s. The bilge they ripped off Rand to seduce the lofos to cut their own throats found its way into their next generation's serious toolkit. They raided their own rigged game, and someday they'll hang for it.

 

[MichVandal]

Are Democrats to blame? Yes. But equally to blame? Not sure you can get me there on that one.

I’ll add that I agree with basically everything else you wrote.

Clinton did a of of harm when he didn't really control CEO Stock Options as pay, and even worse when he dialed back the capitol gains tax.

And the combination of the two of those lead to the management style of "shareholder value"- leading to very short term leadership thinking to raise stock price for a lower tax raise. When legacy and fully mature corporations started chasing the tech stock bubble in the '90s, the wealth gap massively accelerated. None of which traditional Democrat institutions were able to take advantage of- in fact, Unions were rather killed by that. It's always interesting to listen to Robert Reich complain about the wealth gap when he was part of some of the key building blocks.

There is a lot of blame to go around. And its a big reason so many working class people had an easy time pivoting to the freaking morons that run the country now. When nobody is fighting for you, well, we get what we get.

 

[psych]

Clinton did a of of harm when he didn't really control CEO Stock Options as pay, and even worse when he dialed back the capitol gains tax.

And the combination of the two of those lead to the management style of "shareholder value"- leading to very short term leadership thinking to raise stock price for a lower tax raise. When legacy and fully mature corporations started chasing the tech stock bubble in the '90s, the wealth gap massively accelerated. None of which traditional Democrat institutions were able to take advantage of- in fact, Unions were rather killed by that. It's always interesting to listen to Robert Reich complain about the wealth gap when he was part of some of the key building blocks.

There is a lot of blame to go around. And it’s a big reason so many working class people had an easy time pivoting to the freaking morons that run the country now. When nobody is fighting for you, well, we get what we get.

Lots of blame to go around, yes. Some to Democrats, yes. Equal blame for Democrats? No. I stand by what I said.

 

[psych]

Because they were bought.

Remember though that this situation will not last forever. Evolution or revolution. The scumbags have forgotten the lesson of history: once people recognize they are screwed they will slaughter you. The whole purpose of the welfare state was to con people into believing capitalism worked for them. The ideologues who literally believed "taxation is theft," and weren't just cynically using it as rhetoric to move the Overton Window, were like French lords sitting on horseback at Agincourt believing archers and peasants with pikes couldn't possibly hurt them because they had a literal divine mandate.

The rich got high on their own supply. You could see it building with Bunker Hunt in the 70s, small l libertarians in the 90s, and Paul Ryan in the 10s. The bilge they ripped off Rand to seduce the lofos to cut their own throats found its way into their next generation's serious toolkit. They raided their own rigged game, and someday they'll hang for it.

When is the downfall happening? I mean, they- the rich, the ones already far wealthier and more powerful than the French nobles at Agincourt- just got more powerful, not less, with Trump winning in 2024. So, when do they hang? You seem far more confident people are going to figure “it” out than me, especially with the 2024 election only 9 months ago. And far more confident that once they figure it out, they’ll actually do something about it.

 

[Handyman]

When is the downfall happening? I mean, they- the rich, the ones already far wealthier and more powerful than the French nobles at Agincourt- just got more powerful, not less, with Trump winning in 2024. So, when do they hang? You seem far more confident people are going to figure “it” out than me, especially with the 2024 election only 9 months ago. And far more confident that once they figure it out, they’ll actually do something about it.

It will take something catastrophic...or another Great Depression. The French put up with it for a good long while and so will we.

 

[Jimjamesak]

It will take something catastrophic...or another Great Depression. The French put up with it for a good long while and so will we.

This. It’ll have to get a lot worse before anything happens. And there’s always a good chance everything swings further rightward.

 

[Handyman]

Jeff Horwitz (@jeffhorwitz.bsky.social)

I’m grateful to Bue Wongbandue’s family for telling his story to me. It took courage, and they didn’t want attention. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meta-ai-chatbot-death/

bsky.app

edit: read the story...the situation that predicated the story is just disgusting.

 

[Kepler]

Treat Chatbot as a legal person that can be held liable for its speech acts.

Then sue the humans profiting from it into the Sun.

Better: hold them responsible for those speech acts as if they had personally made them. Oh, you own it? Then you Own it!

 

[Kepler]

It will take something catastrophic...or another Great Depression. The French put up with it for a good long while and so will we.

One food shortage can sweep them all away.

Fun fact: I went to a Sadie Hawkins Day dance with a (distant) Glazer. Her house was... actually it was really fucking nice. Tasteful. Lovely library. In another life I put a ring on that and, uh, worked the Revolution from within, yeah, that's it.

 

[Handyman]

Treat Chatbot as a legal person that can be held liable for its speech acts.

Then sue the humans profiting from it into the Sun.

Better: hold them responsible for those speech acts as if they had personally made them. Oh, you own it? Then you Own it!

Think about it someone programmed it to flirt with underage kids...

 

[Kepler]

Think about it someone programmed it to flirt with underage kids...

Not how it works -- LLMs are not "programmed" -- but still irresponsible. Rather, they did not add guardrails to stop it. They started a fire in a public playground, tossed the matches over their shoulder, and walked away.

 

[Handyman]

MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com)

BRUTAL: Producer Price Index (PPI) surges to 3.3% YoY in July, far exceeding expectations. Core PPI up 3.7%. Trump’s tariffs on imports are driving up wholesale costs, signaling even higher prices for consumers.

bsky.app

 

[Kepler]

TBF 3.3 does not appear to be significant:

It's gonna hit and hit hard hard, but it hasn't yet.

 

[Handyman]

Year over year that is quite a lot and as that graph shows is a sign more is coming...and for the average consumer 3.3% can mean the difference between being ok and barely hanging on. I can attest this personally.

And I can tell you that small businesses are going to be hurt bigly over this. Amazon and Walmart can offset it with discounts and survive...the local stores won't be able to do that.

Yes on its own it is not the worst it could be (that will be around second quarter next year if nothing changes) but it is like giving COVID to someone who has respiratory issues...

 

[psych]

One food shortage can sweep them all away.

Fun fact: I went to a Sadie Hawkins Day dance with a (distant) Glazer. Her house was... actually it was really fucking nice. Tasteful. Lovely library. In another life I put a ring on that and, uh, worked the Revolution from within, yeah, that's it.

Man, if only that were true. I work with people who are already without housing, food stamps, healthcare, etc. The crisis is already here for millions of Americans. You think these people are blaming the Waltons? And even if they are, who do you think they’re voting for to solve it?

 

[Handyman]

Man, if only that were true. I work with people who are already without housing, food stamps, healthcare, etc. The crisis is already here for millions of Americans. You think these people are blaming the Waltons? And even if they are, who do you think they’re voting for to solve it?

Yeah this is nothing. It wont be until the shelves are empty and the dispossessed see how much the affluent are really living high on the hog. As long as the majority can get what they need (even while struggling) they will never rock the boat.

 

[Jimjamesak]

Yeah this is nothing. It wont be until the shelves are empty and the dispossessed see how much the affluent are really living high on the hog. As long as the majority can get what they need (even while struggling) they will never rock the boat.

Even in 2009 the unemployment rate only hit 9% compared to 11% in 1982 or nearly 25% in 1933. We haven’t gotten close to actual hardship in this country in decades.