[QUOTE="UsualName, post: 4552263, member: 501368"’we don't need more hiring, there’s plenty of jobs open and we are at full employment. We need a more educated workforce to fill higher paying jobs. We also need to raise the minimum wage to about $11 an hour.[/QUOTE] We are at full employment counting every bullshit dead end job, and using the government math program of counting, which is so convoluted they can come up with any number they like. There are no higher paying jobs, there are no jobs worth a shit, period. We need to rebuild this fucking country from the ground up and that takes hardhats and workboot type jobs. solution is so simple and straightforward you'd think the powers that be have something else in mind, and that something is not for anyone's benefit other than their own and their corporate masters.
We are at full employment counting every bullshit dead end job, and using the government math program of counting, which is so convoluted they can come up with any number they like. There are no higher paying jobs, there are no jobs worth a shit, period. We need to rebuild this fucking country from the ground up and that takes hardhats and workboot type jobs. solution is so simple and straightforward you'd think the powers that be have something else in mind, and that something is not for anyone's benefit other than their own and their corporate masters.[/QUOTE] I appreciate your enthusiasm. (I really do.) Cranes operating are always a good sign of a healthy economy. But, we should not make work. Some of those workers in hard hats need to start transitioning careers. Our economy does not reward as many blue collar workers as it used to. Many workers are working below their potential because they lack basic training or computer skills. I assure you there are a lot of well paying jobs available for people willing to acquire the skills to get them. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...rd-high-labor-market-tightening-idUSKBN1AO1OP
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bi...ax-cuts-on-day-one-if-he-captures-white-house Biden vows to repeal Trump tax cuts on 'Day One' if he captures White House
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/29/buybacks-companies-increasingly-using-debt-to-repurchase-stocks.html Companies are ramping up share buybacks, and they’re increasingly using debt to do so Share buybacks are expected to approach $1 trillion this year, according to Goldman Sachs. Funding is coming from a record drawdown in cash as well as a rise in gross debt and leverage. Buybacks have exceded free cash flow for the first time since the financial crisis. U.S. companies are on pace to break another record for share repurchases in 2019, using a combination of cash and debt to push the total to close to $1 trillion. For the first time since the financial crisis, companies have given back more to shareholders than they are making in cash net of capital expenditures and interest payments, or free cash flow, according to Goldman Sachs calculations. The level of buybacks to free cash flow hit 104% for the 12 months ending in the first quarter of 2019, the first time that number has topped 100% during the economic recovery that started in 2009. In 2017, the level was 82%. Goldman projects buybacks for S&P 500 companies to total $940 billion, a 13% increase over the previous year and a new high for a number that has continued to increase through much of the post-financial crisis period. Total buyback executions among all companies this year were up 26% through mid-July. From a market perspective, investors have been moving to companies with more debt as they prepare for an expected interest rate cut later this week. Burning cash, increasing debt The buyback increase compares with a projected 8% gain in capital expenditures and 9% for research and development this year. The rise in buybacks has had a twin effect on corporate balance sheets, both drawing down cash and increasing leverage. It also represents a more-of-the-same trend that has come despite the $1.5 trillion tax cut passed in late 2017. The record cut had spurred hopes that companies would eschew the buyback formula that has helped generate the longest bull market run in Wall Street history and instead lead to more investment in equipment and personnel. “Although we expect growth in capex, R&D, and cash M&A, we expect companies will continue to increase cash return to shareholders as they have in recent years,” David Kostin, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman, said in a report for clients. Over the past 12 months, nonfinancial companies have drained $272 billion in cash as part of the push to return still more money to shareholders. That represents a 15% decline and is the steepest drop since at least 1980, Kostin said. At the same time, corporate leverage continues to rise as gross debt outstanding has climbed 8% over the past 12 months. That has come during a rough time for corporate profits, with S&P 500 earnings tracking for a 2.6% second-quarter decline, according to FactSet. “Unless earnings growth accelerates materially, companies will likely continue to fund spending by drawing down cash balances and increasing leverage,” Kostin wrote. As the Federal Reserve had been raising rates since 2015, Goldman touted companies with strong balance sheets over those with heavy debt-to-earnings levels. That’s a trade that worked well from the start of 2017 until the end of 2018, with former returning 21% vs. a 3% loss for the latter, but that’s reversed lately. But with the Fed about to cut, the trend has reversed. Since the start of June, weaker balance sheet companies have seen a return of 12% vs. 8% for their counterparts in anticipation that the cost of borrowing will get even cheaper. At a company level, Goldman’s list of weak balance sheet companies include AT&T, GM, Automatic Data Processing, Kraft Heinz and Delta Air Lines. Some of the bigger names on the strong balance sheet side include Alphabet, Costco, Mastercard, Facebook and Intuitive Surgical.
Old news. They've been ramping buybacks for a long, long time now - all fueled on cheap debt that has been around since Bernanke started going to town on QE. Its completely messed up, and Trump is just continuing the reckless policy put in place under the Obama Administration (with the advent of Bernanke and QE).
We saw the largest wage growth last year that we've seen in a decade, but still it seems that many companies are favoring bonuses & stock buybacks over raises. I wish they would apply more of this additional revenue to salaries, but I understand why they aren't. Just about every democratic presidential candidates says that they want to repeal the corporate tax cuts. So what happens if they raise salaries and the additional revenue disappears in a few years? That puts them in a very difficult spot.
Wage growth isn't going to come from legislation or public pressure. Wage growth comes when good talent cannot be hired at existing wages, and managers realize that the only way they're going to get the people they need is by raising the compensation for the job they are offering. Its really that simple.
yeah, darn those democrats! https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/07/republicans-capital-gains-tax-cut AS DEFICIT EXPLODES, GOP DEMANDS EMERGENCY TAX CUT FOR THE RICH Twenty senators have urged the Treasury to give the wealthy another tax cut via executive order. In a letter sent to Steve Mnuchin on Monday, the senator from Texas urged the Treasury Secretary to use his “authority” to index capital gains to inflation, a move that would almost exclusively benefit the mega-rich. Claiming, falsely, that the United States economy “has experienced historic levels of growth as a result of Congress and the current administration’s policies such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” Cruz insists that it is now crucial for the Treasury Department to adjust capital gains for inflation “so that everyday Americans can continue to enjoy better lives and livelihoods.” And by “everyday Americans,” he of course means (but doesn’t say) the spectacularly wealthy.
You mentioned buybacks, so I gave you the where that actually started spiraling out of control. Now, because you don't like my answer, you reply with snark and switch the conversation to some other wacky suggestion, this time from the Republicans. I didn't say the Republicans aren't insane or don't suggest asinine proposals, just that the problem you originally pointed out actually found its footing under Obama. If you can't handle that, then you should check your facts before you troll.