One Handed Economist
Harry Truman reportedly exclaimed he needed a one-handed economist, because all the economists he knew would say one thing, and then in the next breath, prefaced by "on the other hand", say the opposite.
I would like to hear an economist talk about the employees of a company, the ones who actually do the work that makes the company productive, as if they were real people, with lives, families, talents, experiences, ideas and work ethics. Instead, these vital people are referred to by economists with such terms as "jobs" or "labor costs". At one time, there was a recognition of a good work force as an asset of the company, part of its goodwill. Now, with revolving employment doors, outsourcing, mergers and downsizing, employees are rarely if ever referred to as a company asset, though they are sometimes used in company ads to put a human face on an impersonal corporation (and to save actor or model fees by using a minimum wage employee for double duty).
General Motors just announced a corporate reshuffling with some top executives being moved into new job titles including the word "global". The announcement talked about making better use of their "global resources", and pointed out that no jobs would be lost. Jobs may not be lost, but they will be moved from America and Europe to places where they can be done by lower paid workers. So GM economists are now calling potential low paid replacement workers in India "global resources".
An economic newsletter from a leading group of mutual funds, speaking of the European economy, said corporations are "moving labor costs outside of Europe" to increase profitability. Then, pulling his other hand from his pocket, the writer continued, "The outlook is not without issues. Faced with high unemployment, consumers have maintained high savings rates." So the poor bastard in Germany who loses his job building BMWs [or whatever car they still build in Germany] is sitting on his savings instead of buying a new BMW, which is hurting corporate profitability.
Henry Ford was a business genius, largely because he recognized the wisdom of building a good car for an affordable price and paying his employees enough money to be able to buy one. Look how far the American auto industry has moved away from what Henry Ford so wisely demonstrated to be the best policy. GM builds crappy cars, charges too much for them and wants to accelerate its race to find the cheapest worker in the world. The business genius that has produced wonderful Japanese cars for so long is an extension of the Henry Ford philosophy, expanded to value workers not just as consumers but also as part of the innovative production team.
Some people believe that replacing workers with tools like robots is the answer. It may be for some tasks, but the capitalist who dreams of replacing all workers with robots and thus keeping the labor slice of the pie for himself is a fool. R2D2 and C3PO aside, sales, marketing, customer relations, ideas and innovation are better left to real human beings. Have you ever decided to send more business to a company because of a pleasant voice mail recording?
I would like to hear an economist talk about the employees of a company, the ones who actually do the work that makes the company productive, as if they were real people, with lives, families, talents, experiences, ideas and work ethics. Instead, these vital people are referred to by economists with such terms as "jobs" or "labor costs". At one time, there was a recognition of a good work force as an asset of the company, part of its goodwill. Now, with revolving employment doors, outsourcing, mergers and downsizing, employees are rarely if ever referred to as a company asset, though they are sometimes used in company ads to put a human face on an impersonal corporation (and to save actor or model fees by using a minimum wage employee for double duty).
General Motors just announced a corporate reshuffling with some top executives being moved into new job titles including the word "global". The announcement talked about making better use of their "global resources", and pointed out that no jobs would be lost. Jobs may not be lost, but they will be moved from America and Europe to places where they can be done by lower paid workers. So GM economists are now calling potential low paid replacement workers in India "global resources".
An economic newsletter from a leading group of mutual funds, speaking of the European economy, said corporations are "moving labor costs outside of Europe" to increase profitability. Then, pulling his other hand from his pocket, the writer continued, "The outlook is not without issues. Faced with high unemployment, consumers have maintained high savings rates." So the poor bastard in Germany who loses his job building BMWs [or whatever car they still build in Germany] is sitting on his savings instead of buying a new BMW, which is hurting corporate profitability.
Henry Ford was a business genius, largely because he recognized the wisdom of building a good car for an affordable price and paying his employees enough money to be able to buy one. Look how far the American auto industry has moved away from what Henry Ford so wisely demonstrated to be the best policy. GM builds crappy cars, charges too much for them and wants to accelerate its race to find the cheapest worker in the world. The business genius that has produced wonderful Japanese cars for so long is an extension of the Henry Ford philosophy, expanded to value workers not just as consumers but also as part of the innovative production team.
Some people believe that replacing workers with tools like robots is the answer. It may be for some tasks, but the capitalist who dreams of replacing all workers with robots and thus keeping the labor slice of the pie for himself is a fool. R2D2 and C3PO aside, sales, marketing, customer relations, ideas and innovation are better left to real human beings. Have you ever decided to send more business to a company because of a pleasant voice mail recording?
posted by Tom Blake | 12:44 PM
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