Employees Don't Buy What Companies Make.

       Columnist Harold Meyerson had an interesting editorial in the Washington Post today. He talked about how people are not better off. It used to be that folks could reasonably expect to be better off than their parents were. No more. He attributes that to the change we underwent from stakeholder economy to shareholder economy.
       Ya see, in a shareholder economy like we have now, the emphasis is on the stockholders of companies. But there used to be far more focus on stakeholders, that is employees and their well being. When did that change take place? Back in the early 1980s unions started to decline in earnest. Employee share of the wealth earned by corporations has decreased dramatically. But payouts to stockholders have increased just as dramatically.
       What he's saying is that employee wages have stagnated while stock returns have increased. Unions don't count for much these days. Therefore there's nobody looking out for the best interests of the workers. Certainly companies don't see it as their responsibility. If you're not happy with your lot with this company, then leave, quit. That's fine, except where would you go? Job prospects aren't that good. Companies know that. Fewer workers are needed to do what jobs there are.
       Globalization helps to depress the market for all jobs except for the highest paying, highest tech positions. But here's the problem. Companies don't want to pay employees. They'd rather pay stockholders. But those same companies need customers who can afford the products they make. How can you reasonably expect an employee to buy your product if you don't pay him or her enough to buy that product?
\       Stockholders may be able to afford your product, but there isn't enough of them to keep your company in business. That's because stockholders are mostly wealthy folks or retirement funds. As an underpaid worker, you may own an IRA, but that doesn't help you buy the company's product. It'll barely help you retire someday. It's a catch 22.