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Robert F. Abbott A day to reflect on the accomplishments of working people: That's been the proud tradition since the first, unofficial, Labor Day back in 1882. But, one of labor's greatest accomplishments has gone largely unrecognized. Since the end of World War II, working people have bought up a huge chunk of big business. They now own a piece of just about everything in business, from multinational corporations to small companies that build mini-malls in their neighborhoods. It may be the greatest economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution; management guru Peter Drucker calls it 'The Pension Fund Revolution.' To get a sense of the transformation, consider this: At the end of 2001, America's 242 billionaires had assets totalling about $800 billion. That's a sizable amount, certainly, but working people had assets of $11.8 trillion in pension and mutual funds. That's almost 15 times as much as the billionaires. Most working people contribute only modest amounts to their retirement plans, but there are simply so many of us that our collective nest egg grew very quickly. If you're still not sure, try this on your calculator: Multiply a contribution of $1,000 per year by one million working people. Answer: $1 billion dollars per year. Now note there are hundreds of millions of working people here and in other countries. And we're contributing new money every year. Even a relatively small number of working people can build a big fund. For example, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, with 944,000 members in or retired from state public services, had assets of $112 billion at the end of March last year. According to the Fund's annual report for 2002, about $76.6 billion of that total was invested in companies. The remainder, about $35 billion, was in bonds, mortgages, and other types of loans. Look at the private sector and unions, too. To cite just a couple of examples, Pensions & Investments magazine estimated that General Motor's pension fund had assets of $82.5 billion and the pension fund of the Western Conference Teamsters had assets of $22.6 billion, at September 30, 2001. This ownership of big business by working people is the result of contributions to pension funds, mutual funds, and life insurance policies with a savings component. What does all this mean? Well, for starters, perhaps an end of complaints about the profits of corporations. After all, most of those profits go toward the retirement incomes of working people. More complicated, though, is the relationship between working people who own a big company and other working people employed by it. How to share corporate profits -- through continuing employment and higher wages, or through higher returns to shareholders -- remains a difficult issue. Especially for those working people who lose their jobs. On the other side of the coin, working people have bought enough stocks and shares to become the bosses of the bosses. Some pension funds have begun making that clear; CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, has led the way in telling Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and boards of directors that they'd better manage effectively. And, CEOs and directors listen; after all CalPERS runs the country's biggest pension fund, with assets of more than $130 billion. One other thing: if you're a working person, you're a consumer, as well as an owner and employee. When you go shopping, there's a chance you'll buy from a business owned by yourself, your friends, or your neighbors. What's more, the clerks who take your credit card with smiles may work for you. Or, maybe the clerks own the company for which you work. Smile at them, too, just to be on the safe side!
The federally sponsored medical insurance long promised to the brave workers who sacrificed their safety and wellbeing to help those stuck in the rubble of the World Trade Center on September 11th i... [Author: Cole Ing - Politics and Government - March 28, 2011] Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 |
More Articles:1. Cloning; The Possibilities and Advantages of Thought Swapping By Lance Winslow We can all see the issues involved in the cloning debate, which go much deeper than religion; the real debate has to do with evolutions process of a self-replicating organic machine, human beings, and the future of science and the species. There will be power shifts in economic status amongst ruling elite, political families, etc along with issues of entanglement, connected brains and communication abilities in the future. Discussing issues with individuals or entire groups of clones will be d… 2. The “Manchurian Candidate”: Lee Harvey Oswald? By Jerry Leonard An American soldier is taken behind enemy lines and brainwashed as an unwitting assassin by communists in league with American political figures. This soldier then returns to the States to kill a presidential candidate as part of a political scheme to escalate and exploit Cold War tensions.Sound familiar? It does if you’ve seen the classic movie “The Manchurian Candidate.”Now consider this modified scenario: An American soldier is first brainwashed as an assassin and to behave as a communist b… 3. Trains and the Flow of Fuel By Lance Winslow Fuel costs seem to rank high in surveys of US citizens most grave concerns. Rates up there at the top, doesn’t it?Who are some heavy users of fuel that are not as often thought of? For surface transportation there are many indeed; cars, trucks, buses, etc. While we are talking about surface transportation, let’s talk about trains. The railroad has always been a big part and played an even larger part in the flow of fuel even before the locomotives used fuel. Even back when the trains were stea… Nessebar Fort Club Charity Boats Articles on Culture and Society 4. Let's Restrict the Definition of Marriage for Straights The debate du jour across the country is whether to legitimatize homosexual unions with the title of “marriage.” The primary argument against this move is that doing so dilutes the meaning of marriage and diminishes the family, which is one of the cornerstones of civilization. I happen to agree with this perspective. However, there are heterosexual couplings that also fit that template. Perhaps we should also restrict the definition of “marriage” for heterosexuals as well.The most visible – and … |
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