Widgets And Buggy Whips.

       The average American worker is making over $2,500 less now than they did in 2009. But that same worker is producing almost ten percent more product for manufacturers then they did only five years ago. Why do you suppose that is? If you were working on the production line making that infamous 'widget' and back in 2007 you were able to make ten widgets per day and you were making, let's say, $20 per hour, then today you will be able to make eleven widget per day, but you're only going to get paid about $18.50 per hour. Now the company is still selling those widgets for the same price, or more likely a somewhat higher price, so how come you don't get any share of the increased profits? How can this be? It must be a misprint.
       Well, it's true and accurate. So if this is true, then where are the increased profits going? Who's taking the workers share for themselves? The answer is that it's just good business to pay labor less to make more profits. Workers aren't nearly as important as the bottom line. In fact, the company can cut back workers hours and still produce the same number of widgets per day. The nice part about that is that by doing so the company won't have to provide the benefits required for full time employees. Thus increasing profits even more.
       Ya see? CEOs are smarter than you may have thought. That's because the CEOs income hasn't fallen. In fact CEO income has risen sharply. And the value of the company's stock? Why, that went way up as well. Ya see, the economy can grow at a fast clip without workers making as much as they did in the past. And it ain't just widget makers that are profiting by this phenomenon, it's pretty much every industry. But there's another kicker in the CEOs bag of tricks. If profits don't rise quick enough, there's always a country with slave labor ready and willing to welcome that company to open manufacturing there.
       What I can't figure out is how that widget maker, as well as buggy whip makers and all the other manufacturers, will find people who can afford to buy the widgets being made. If I was making $20 an hour and I could just afford one, how will I be able to afford one now that the price went up and my pay went down? And if I lost my job to a Bangladeshi and now I'm flipping burgers, who's gonna buy your widget now?