Investor vs. Labor

There is a big elephant in the economic room right now. It is the topic of finding a good return for investors while demanding a livable wage for workers. Finding a general middle ground on this issue is going to be paramount if the global economy is going to run smoothly. One optimistic view is that there are many in the global economy that are on both sides of the issue. It is this group that are both workers and are also investors that can lead the economy into both a prosperous and livable wage earning future.

Future posts will focus on how different entities are affecting this process. They include corporations, labor groups, lobbyists for both corporations and labor groups, the financial industry, government, and retirement plans. If there are any other groups not mentioned in this post or future posts, please feel free to comment.

This thread hopefully will get the conversation moving in a direction that allows for a decent return on investments as well as a livable wage for all who participate in this economy.  

New Deals (Micosoft/AOL, Facebook/Instagram)

The deal market might be sparked to move with Facebook buying Instagram. See the New York Times story here. Instagram is barely three years old. But its competitive advantages in the photo sharing area was just too much for Facebook.

Also, Microsoft paid over one billion dollars for some of AOL's patents. Read the New York Times story here. This deal is a reminder of how important intellectual property can be when running a business.

As there haven't been many deals lately, this might get the money moving a little bit. Balance sheets are full of cash and there needs to be something done with the cash.

Pension fund Blacklists Walmart

The following Huffingtonpost article reports that there is a Dutch pension fund that is blacklisting Walmart from its investments. The power of the pension is now starting to be seen and felt.

Pepsi laying off employees to please investors

There was a story from Reuters regarding Pepsi cutting 4000 jobs along with making cuts to the company's pension and 401K programs. The reason given is to be able to save their earnings numbers.

This is exactly the kind of short sightedness that get corporations into bigger trouble. Most companies that let Wall Street analysts dictate their business plans by making sure the earnings numbers come first need new management.

In this particular case, there is wonderment over the economic cost benefit analysis over layoffs versus management bonus' being decreased. It is surprising that Pepsi can feel that cutting pension and 401K matching programs to employees that need them works out better than cutting the enormous bonus packages that are relatively not needed to top executives. This action should show that Pepsi is not deserving of pension investment dollars.

Thanks Occupy Atlanta!!!!

I would like to thank Occupy Atlanta for making JP Morgan Chase truly follow their slogan of "Going the extra mile for our veterans". The link to the story is below.

Occupiers force JP Morgan's hand 

Public Pension debate question

What results would occur if public employee pensions were directed to not invest the employee contributions for one month?

China's economic development/political stability

Hey

I am watching comments and actions from China's government lately and am wondering if they are starting to deliberately slow down economic development to keep their political system in tact. I have read and am posting the following stories that piqued my interest.

When the rich leave an area, there is a need that isn't being met. I'm feeling that the need not being met has a lot to do with personal freedom and expression.

Guardian article

Reuters article