Broken recovery: Taxes are low and corporate profits are high, but nothing is trickling down to the American worker
What makes this "recovery" so different? Perhaps the simplest answer is that labor has been broken as a force that can put pressure on management, so there's little incentive for employers to turn profits into wage hikes or new jobs. Instead, employers are squeezing more out of the workers that they've got, and investing in equipment upgrades and new technology instead of human assets -- labor productivity has risen sharply since the end of the recession.
Globalization also plays a potent role -- and not just as a source of cheap labor to undermine the bargaining power of American workers. The Journal notes that many companies "are benefiting from demand from emerging markets, where they are deriving an increasing share of their sales." Job creation is probably following the sources of new demand. If the Chinese and Brazilians and Indians are the ones buying American goods and services, then it makes sense to staff up overseas. But with American consumers still shellshocked by the economic crash and dutifully obsessed with paying down their debts while trying to hold on to their homes, domestic demand is hardly a force to be catered to.
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