A Parable For Our Times.

       Here's a modern day parable. There were two companies, each with a CEO for their time. The mid-20th century company CEO was approached by his R&D department . They told him that by making certain changes they could produce their product for 5% less. The CEO said "Do it and reduce the price of the product by the appropriate amount. We'll sell more product, thereby increasing our profitability and the value of the company."
       The other company was a late-20th, early-21st century company. The R&D department approached this CEO and offered the same option of changes providing the same 5% savings in production. This CEO said "Do it but keep the price the same. We'll make more profit with less production thereby making our company more profitable and more valuable with fewer people."
       The question is, which CEO was more responsible to his workers and to his customers? The first CEO will claim he is. The second CEO will claim he's more responsible to his shareholders. So, which is correct, the one who was responsible to his workers and customers or the one who was more responsible to his shareholders? Remember, both CEOs increased profits and company value.
       The real question is who was more responsible? The first CEO kept more workers and saved his customers on the costs of his products and yet remained responsible to his shareholders. The second was more responsible to his shareholders. So who is more important, the workers and customers or the shareholders? The answer is, this is the difference between then and now. This is the difference between the disparity of wealth then and now. This is the reason for lower paying jobs and jobs going overseas. Because nobody cares about the workers or customers like they once did.