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**andrekuper** · 12-29-2005, 09:13 PM

If you read Batra's "Myth' you will see a reference to the work of one (very conservative Economist), U. of Nebraska's Wallace Peterson.

Peterson, who synopsized what is and has been happenening to our economy for years, in his 1991 work 'The Silent Depression' found that those who derive their funds from wages (eg, 'workers') constitute 80% of our population (along with dependents, of course), while the other 20% of the population (he didn't give them a label, so I'll just call them 'elites') derive their funds from investments, fees, bonuses.

He further found that the workers' economic conditions/security was dropping like a cat with a 50 lb. stone around its neck, while the exact inverse was true of the elites.

Therefore, he concluded, that when economists say (as they do) that free trade helps 'consumers' but hurts 'workers', they we actually saying that the only 'consumers' who are in reality helped are those 20% at the top.

Couple this with the ignorance of the general populace about how Wal-Mart (for example) 'rolls back prices' (wonder how the public would feel if the slogan was designed to reflect reality and said 'We're rolling back wages'?) and you can conclude that the demand for cheap goods comes from the top- not the bottom.

12-29-2005, 09:13 PM	#21
andrekuper Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 496 Senior Member	If you read Batra's "Myth' you will see a reference to the work of one (very conservative Economist), U. of Nebraska's Wallace Peterson. Peterson, who synopsized what is and has been happenening to our economy for years, in his 1991 work 'The Silent Depression' found that those who derive their funds from wages (eg, 'workers') constitute 80% of our population (along with dependents, of course), while the other 20% of the population (he didn't give them a label, so I'll just call them 'elites') derive their funds from investments, fees, bonuses. He further found that the workers' economic conditions/security was dropping like a cat with a 50 lb. stone around its neck, while the exact inverse was true of the elites. Therefore, he concluded, that when economists say (as they do) that free trade helps 'consumers' but hurts 'workers', they we actually saying that the only 'consumers' who are in reality helped are those 20% at the top. Couple this with the ignorance of the general populace about how Wal-Mart (for example) 'rolls back prices' (wonder how the public would feel if the slogan was designed to reflect reality and said 'We're rolling back wages'?) and you can conclude that the demand for cheap goods comes from the top- not the bottom.
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