Regulation, unions bring economic benefits

Automaker Henry Ford paid workers well. He knew for an economy to grow, people must make enough to buy products. Few politicians understand this economic fact. They try to create jobs by showering tax dollars on corporations. Corporations are sitting on piles of cash, giving CEOs outlandish bonuses and not creating any new jobs. Why? Because companies add jobs and expand facilities when there is demand for products, not because a governor or legislature gives them treats. Trickle-down theories that say investment income should be taxed less than wages and that corporations and wealthy individuals receive endless tax breaks are false premises. When instituted income gaps expand, the middle class shrinks, consumer demand falls and economies collapse.

China has the fastest-growing economy in the world. More than 90 percent of its workers are in unions, their middle class expanding, consumer demand skyrocketing. China has a high rate of government regulation. Strong unions lift wages. Intelligent rules streamline commerce. The U.S. economy and union membership peaked in the 1950s and collapsed under President Bush because the financial sector was deregulated into near anarchy and unions decimated by unfair laws that make it a right to steal contracts.

Countries with fair labor laws and appropriate government refereeing of economic competition have stable economies. Those with the highest standards of living are Scandinavian socialists. Economic decisions should be based on reality, not on false paradigms indoctrinated into people's heads by decades of propaganda promulgated by wealthy corporate think tanks.

Jay Miller

Hills