Category: Economics

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TicketMaster… a cynical, jaded company

Manager Peabody Opera House
1400 Market St.
St. Louis, MO 63103

Dear Sir/Madam:

I found out Emmy Lou Harris is coming to the Peabody Opera House.  Both my girlfriend and I were as excited as we are both huge, huge fans of hers.

I started looking into buying tickets and at first blush they did not seem too bad.  Then I realized I would have to buy them from TicketMaster, who in my humble opinion is one of most jaded, cynical companies in America.   I looked into buying them directly from the Peabody Opera House box office, and I discovered this was not an option.  So I bit the bullet and went online to purchase tickets from this evil, evil company.

I chose two $37 seats.  A $3 facility charge per ticket was added, and then a $9.20 convenience charge.  My $37 ticket was now up to $49.2.    Next they wanted to charge me to deliver the tickets to me, including an outrageous charge of $2.50 for me to print them myself????? But they were not done yet.  As I was checking out they added a $4.25 order processing fee.

There were 2 or 3 points in the whole processed I was so angered by the process that I nearly just closed the browser, but I did want to make my girlfriend happy.

Part of the thrill of going to these events is the anticipation.  After the ticket purchase process I have a bad taste in my mouth, and frankly feel violated.  My anticipatory fever has evaporated.

There really should be another option for buying your tickets beyond TicketMaster.  Failing that they should have a face value that includes all these additional charges so purchasers do not feel raped after the process. 

Sincerely,

———————–

These folks seem to have a monopoly on ticket sales in just all the markets I am aware of.   Why don’t we bust up monopolies like we used to.  Oh I forgot, our politicians are bought and paid for by these folks

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Viral Video Shows the Extent of U.S. Wealth Inequality

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The lie that is the H-1B program

From the linked article at Mother Jones:dunce1

“And it applies in a similarly upside-down way to foreign tech workers, who, according to a study released yesterday by the Economic Policy Institute, demonstrate no more talent in important areas than similarly educated Americans, and in some cases may be less qualified.”

“There are, of course, reasons for this that have nothing to do with intelligence. More than 80 percent of H-1B visa holders are approved to be hired at wages below those paid to American workers for comparable positions, according to EPI. And because H-1B workers and green card applicants are locked into jobs with whatever employer sponsors their visa, they have less less leverage to push for raises and promotions. As Matloff puts it, “the worker becomes a de facto indentured servant.”

Are Foreigners Smarter Than US Workers?

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Letter to a North American Manufacturer

President
Seabreeze International Corporation
361 Rowntree Dairy Rd #3
Vaughan, ON L4L 8H1

Dear Sir/Madam:

I purchased a model SF6000TA electric space heater from many other available models primary because it was made in North America. Some of the reviews online also gave me a warm fuzzy about my proposed purchase. Your product comes at a price premium compared to similar products from China, but I ignored this as it is important to me to buy products made closer to home.

I noticed the shipping container that my heater arrived in was a cardboard box made in China. Perhaps you should rethink your sourcing of these sorts of products in your business. I want to support manufacturing in North America. I do not think it should be a stretch for North American manufacturers to support manufacturing in North America.

Just a thought.

Sincerely,

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American Savings?!?!

From Freakanomics…

50% of Americans say they cannot lay their hands on $2000 in 30 days.   Why $2000, because that is a good guess at what an average, sudden crisis would cost.  20% of households making $150,000 per year say they cannot come up with the $2000.

On the flip side an American household spends on average $520 per year on lotteries.  20% of households say their only chance of accumulating wealth is the lottery.  40% of households making less than $25,000 a year make that claim.

Just something to chew on. Sorry link was taken down…

 

 

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How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?

Another sad account of Foxconn and Apple and the high human cost of your iPhone: iEmpire: Apple’s Sordid Business Practices Are Even Worse Than You Think

Someone please tell what is right about unfettered capitalism be practiced globally with US in the lead.

Here is a link to a Forbes article listing the top 400 richest people in America. Number 400 has a net worth of $1 billion. Number 1 on the list, Bill Gates, has a worth of 59 billion. Six of the folks on this list made their wealth from Wal*Mart. Steve Jobs is number 39 with a paltry $7 billion. Michael Dell is number 18 with a worth of $15 billion.

Go to the top of the list and find the “source” heading. Click on Continue reading “How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?”

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The Dying Middle Class

I do not know a lot about BusinessInsider.com, but it does not strike as a progressive or liberal leaning web site.  Their stated view is that of business, and business in this country is definitely not in the liberal camp. All that makes it even more interesting that they would run the following article: 30 Statistics That Show The Middle Class Is Dying Right In Front Of Our Eyes

A couple quotes from the article to titillate your curiosity.

“Every single day, more Americans fall out of the middle class and into poverty  In fact, more Americans fell into poverty last year than has ever been recorded before. The number of middle class jobs and middle class neighborhoods continues to decline at a staggering pace.””

“Today, only 55.3 percent of all Americans between the ages of 16 and 29 have jobs.”

IMHO, the Occupy Wall Street movement has it right.  As long as the wealth gap grows the problem will continue. As long as corporations control our government and politicians it is not going to get any better.  The sad part is that so many Americans have bought in to the rhetoric of Libertarians, the Tea Party, etc.   As long as we continue to buy the proposition that any tax is bad, the rich will continue to be under taxed and the diminishing middle class will carry the burden.  As long as we continue with the myth of rugged individualism in this country will we not do the things we need to do to have a sane society.   As long as we continue to support businesses that have marched our jobs overseas, the headlong rush to all of us fighting over jobs flipping burgers will go on.  At some point we need to dig our collective heads out of our asses and fight back.  I wish I was hopefully that we will.

Sigh…

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Wal-Mart Could Easily Pay $12 an Hour

I referenced this same article in a previous blog, but I think it is important enough to pull out by itself.

“Raising the pay of Wal-Mart’s U.S. workers to a minimum of $12 an hour would lift many out of poverty, reduce their reliance on public assistance, and cost the average consumer, at most, $12.49 a year.

That’s the conclusion of a new study published by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.  The study is primarily concerned with the question of how raising Wal-Mart’s wages would affect poor families, including both those who work at its stores and those who shop at them.  The benefits to poor families, the study concludes, would far exceed the costs. “

Read the whole article at Wal-Mart Could Easily Pay $12 an Hour

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Occupy Wal*Mart

6 Members of Walton Family Have More Money Than The Bottom 30% of Americans

From article at AlterNet.org

When you consider how these folks have gotten this obscenely rich it is past obscene.  They have built this wealth off exploiting their workers,  small businesses,  cheap foreign labor, attacking the middle class, and generally turning us into a LCD (lowest common denominator) society.  Have I mentioned that they hate puppies, apple pie, and the American way?

Just a few of things I can think of off the top of head:

Wal*Mart has consistently underpaid its workers.  This is especially troubling as they are the largest private employer in the United States, employing some 2.2 million souls as of the latest data.  To give some perspective, the Federal government employs 2,823,777 which include 296,628 part-timers.  If you total up the employment of all 50 state governments you come up with 4,283,597 FTEs.  The next closest private employer to Wal-Mart, IBM, employs 436,000.

See chart below for listing of the top 10 private employers in the U.S.A. Continue reading “Occupy Wal*Mart”

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So Wrong…

“Despite the jobless epidemic, U.S. companies are tripping over themselves to fill high paying job openings with workers from overseas. Companies, lead by Microsoft and IBM, have already maxed out their allotment of 65,000 H-1B visas. Indeed, it appears U.S. companies have set a three-year record in how quickly they reached the cap for H-1B workers.”

From this article:  Despite High Unemployment, U.S. Companies Are Hiring From Overseas At Record Pace

These supposed American companies prefer to hire foreign nationals when unemployment runs epidemic in this country.  They play all sort of games to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. (U.S. Tech Companies Could Double Overseas Cash By 2013: Moody’s). Long ago they have moved their spending on education overseas because they felt that they get “more bang for the buck” (Microsoft To Invest $1.7B In India).

We have made it such a financial burden on our young folks to get the education necessary to compete for these types of jobs it is sinful.  I have worked in IT for several companies including 3 or 4 Fortune 500 companies.  I’ve yet to see one invest significantly in training its American workforce.  Either you know it when you are hired, or you learn it on your own.  The alternative is to watch as they flood the offices with young Indian programmers.

I’m not sure that these ‘American” companies are not doing more harm to common US citizen than all the terrorist Cheney and Bush ever dreamed about.  The law as reinforced by the Supreme Court decision (Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit) desires to treat the legal construction, corporations, as persons.  If they are persons and citizens of this nation they are treasonous, undermining the very fabric of our society.

It is so wrong… and our politicians let them get away with it.  So wrong…