WASHINGTON POST Opinion: This election is being fought along the traditional skirmish line of capital versus labor. President Obama projects himself as the protector of workers and families who are preyed upon by greedy and wealthy capitalists. Mitt Romney counters that the president doesn’t understand business and that his antagonism discourages private investment and job creation. This argument over contemporary capitalism is inevitable and legitimate, though in part misleading…
What’s clear is that capital has recovered from the Great Recession faster than labor. At last count, corporate profits were 20 percent higher than their pre-recession peak in 2006. Corporate managers have cut costs and streamlined operations. Although this may improve the economy’s long-run efficiency, the immediate effect is higher unemployment. The number of non-farm payroll jobs, up 3.7 million from its low point, is still 5 million below its previous high…
The message is plain. Since 1980, labor’s share of national income has receded. There’s been a widespread “weakening of workers’ bargaining power,” says Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a liberal research group. He cites shrinking union membership (now 7 percent among private workers), greater competition from imports, deregulation (in airlines, trucking, telecommunications) and production shifts abroad. “The ability to put downward pressure on wages (is easier) when you can move operations to Mexico and China,” he says. (more)
