Disposable Workers

If there were ever a reason to boycott Wal-Mart and Republicans, here it is:

The War Against Wages
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times

Should we be cheering over the fact that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has finally set a new record? No. The Dow is doing well largely because American employers are waging a successful war against wages. Economic growth since early 2000, when the Dow reached its previous peak, hasn’t been exceptional. But after-tax corporate profits have more than doubled, because workers’ productivity is up, but their wages aren’t — and because companies have dealt with rising health insurance premiums by denying insurance to ever more workers.

If you want to see how the war against wages is being fought, and what it’s doing to working Americans and their families, consider the latest news from Wal-Mart....

Read more here (TimesSelect) or here (Non-Subscribers).

Photo credit: Paul Krugman. (The New York Times)

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