4 ms·

I understand the business implications of a higher cost for labor and that the primary intent of the advisory is positive, but yikes, this perspective is so pro

by foota 10y ago

I understand the business implications of a higher cost for labor and that the primary intent of the advisory is positive, but yikes, this perspective is so pro-business that it reads like a caricature.

cmrdporcupine 10y ago
Straight out of Das Kapital... Only backwards An old friend used to always point out to me that if you want to know what's really happening in the world, read the 'bourgeois' financial press, not the 'news'. Ideologues can and will lie and distort at will in tabloids and on TV news, but if your customers are businesses looking to make money, you have to tell things closer to the truth, that's what they're paying for.
- nickpsecurity 10y ago
  Exactly. I tell them the same thing. A good example is how the various media and politicians describe our system to public vs what Citigroup's analysts secretly described to rich investors: http://politicalgates.blogspot.com/2011/12/citigroup-plutonomy-memos-two-bombshell.html http://politicalgates.blogspot.com/2011/12/citigroup-plutono... Secret got out and is quite the confirmation of what many suspected. Of course, we rarely get info that good. So, have to read the same publications as the titan's of industry do for their investments to try to reverse engineer it out so to speak.
- mahyarm 10y ago
  Like the economist or something else? Analysts being full of shit is a running joke as far as I know
  - nickpsecurity 10y ago
    Wall St journal, annual reports... things like that. They focus on what business is actually doing and to benefit who. Also lots of indirect effects. Whereas, corporate media just say BS wholesale on these topics. No surprise given who owns them and pays ad revenue. ;)
  - goldmouth 10y ago
    No, the economist is nearly all commentary and investigative reports. I still like the Wall Street Journal. Just compare the current front page of both to see the difference. wsj.com economist.com
- honkhonkpants 10y ago
  Marx got a lot of things wrong but he was spot on in his descriptions of capitalism.
  - vixen99 10y ago
    He certainly didn't understand how wealth is created and confused a temporary situation with an abstract truth. It is not socialism that has brought millions of people across the world out of utter poverty in the last 20-30 years. "Economists with the National Bureau of Economic Research released a working paper in 2009 on global poverty concluding that the world had seen a significant decrease in extreme poverty—defined at the time as living on $1 or less per day—between 1970 and 2006. While even a significant decrease in extreme poverty still leaves much room for additional gains, the decrease in rates of extreme poverty during this period of time is stunning. " http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/11/whats-behind-the-stunning-decrease-in-global-poverty http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/11/whats-behi... http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/karl-marx-the-almost-capitalist/ http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/karl-marx-the-a...
  - vixen99 10y ago
    He certainly didn't understand how wealth is created and confused a temporary situation with an abstract truth. It is not socialism that has brought millions of people across the world out of utter poverty in the last 20-30 years. "Economists with the National Bureau of Economic Research released a working paper in 2009 on global poverty concluding that the world had seen a significant decrease in extreme poverty—defined at the time as living on $1 or less per day—between 1970 and 2006. While even a significant decrease in extreme poverty still leaves much room for additional gains, the decrease in rates of extreme poverty during this period of time is stunning. " http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/11/whats-behind-the-stunning-decrease-in-global-poverty http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/11/whats-behi... http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/karl-marx-the-almost-capitalist/ http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/karl-marx-the-a...
- rrdharan 10y ago
  Great example of this is how climate change deniers protect their businesses from the effects of climate change: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-climate-change-golf-course-223436 http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-climate-c... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_cont...

by foota 10y ago

cmrdporcupine 10y ago

Straight out of Das Kapital... Only backwards An old friend used to always point out to me that if you want to know what's really happening in the world, read the 'bourgeois' financial press, not the 'news'. Ideologues can and will lie and distort at will in tabloids and on TV news, but if your customers are businesses looking to make money, you have to tell things closer to the truth, that's what they're paying for.

nickpsecurity 10y ago
Exactly. I tell them the same thing. A good example is how the various media and politicians describe our system to public vs what Citigroup's analysts secretly described to rich investors: http://politicalgates.blogspot.com/2011/12/citigroup-plutonomy-memos-two-bombshell.html http://politicalgates.blogspot.com/2011/12/citigroup-plutono... Secret got out and is quite the confirmation of what many suspected. Of course, we rarely get info that good. So, have to read the same publications as the titan's of industry do for their investments to try to reverse engineer it out so to speak.
mahyarm 10y ago
Like the economist or something else? Analysts being full of shit is a running joke as far as I know
- nickpsecurity 10y ago
  Wall St journal, annual reports... things like that. They focus on what business is actually doing and to benefit who. Also lots of indirect effects. Whereas, corporate media just say BS wholesale on these topics. No surprise given who owns them and pays ad revenue. ;)
- goldmouth 10y ago
  No, the economist is nearly all commentary and investigative reports. I still like the Wall Street Journal. Just compare the current front page of both to see the difference. wsj.com economist.com
honkhonkpants 10y ago
Marx got a lot of things wrong but he was spot on in his descriptions of capitalism.
- vixen99 10y ago
  He certainly didn't understand how wealth is created and confused a temporary situation with an abstract truth. It is not socialism that has brought millions of people across the world out of utter poverty in the last 20-30 years. "Economists with the National Bureau of Economic Research released a working paper in 2009 on global poverty concluding that the world had seen a significant decrease in extreme poverty—defined at the time as living on $1 or less per day—between 1970 and 2006. While even a significant decrease in extreme poverty still leaves much room for additional gains, the decrease in rates of extreme poverty during this period of time is stunning. " http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/11/whats-behind-the-stunning-decrease-in-global-poverty http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/11/whats-behi... http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/karl-marx-the-almost-capitalist/ http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/karl-marx-the-a...
- vixen99 10y ago
  He certainly didn't understand how wealth is created and confused a temporary situation with an abstract truth. It is not socialism that has brought millions of people across the world out of utter poverty in the last 20-30 years. "Economists with the National Bureau of Economic Research released a working paper in 2009 on global poverty concluding that the world had seen a significant decrease in extreme poverty—defined at the time as living on $1 or less per day—between 1970 and 2006. While even a significant decrease in extreme poverty still leaves much room for additional gains, the decrease in rates of extreme poverty during this period of time is stunning. " http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/11/whats-behind-the-stunning-decrease-in-global-poverty http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/11/whats-behi... http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/karl-marx-the-almost-capitalist/ http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/karl-marx-the-a...
rrdharan 10y ago
Great example of this is how climate change deniers protect their businesses from the effects of climate change: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-climate-change-golf-course-223436 http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-climate-c... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_cont...