tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post8260500176652182469..comments2024-01-02T22:01:12.976+00:00Comments on Avedon's Sideshow: Glad all overAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-16779781208891686772015-11-19T20:42:45.173+00:002015-11-19T20:42:45.173+00:00Couple of guys in the left field bleachers talking...Couple of guys in the left field bleachers talking about the old days:<br /><br />YouTube 1 (BTW, that would be '96, not '86) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yePIn0zwGCc" rel="nofollow">[LINK]</a><br /><br />Same Part 1 but with a transcript <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14986" rel="nofollow">[LINK]</a><br /><br />Then it's on to, "'Can't anyone play this game' these days?" and "It used to be you built your team through the minor league system but that's all gone now, all gone."<br /><br />YouTube 2 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiOzaLaR3XQ" rel="nofollow">[LINK]</a><br /><br />Same Part 2 but with a transcript <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15060" rel="nofollow">[LINK]</a>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-84135172965888877492015-11-17T05:52:21.241+00:002015-11-17T05:52:21.241+00:00[And, of course, it is only now that I see I multi...[And, of course, it is only now that I see I multiplied $10.88 by 1.75 instead of 1.77 and therefore got $19.04 instead of the more correct $19.26 amount. I was wondering why my $19.04 was further than a rounding error from $19.30.] CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-53601907204373741612015-11-17T05:41:09.076+00:002015-11-17T05:41:09.076+00:00LINK for BLS inflation calculator
LINK for OMB'...<a href="http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm" rel="nofollow">LINK for BLS inflation calculator</a><br /><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2016/assets/hist.pdf" rel="nofollow">LINK for OMB's Historical Tables</a> warning- 360 plus page pdf. Find therein Table 10.1 for the GDP data I used and the GDP deflators. And can anyone explain why, for 1968 only, OMB's number for GDP is about 4.5% lower than the St. Louis Fed's and the BEA's? I went with the OMB's numbers because I wanted to use their deflators.<br /><a href="http://www.multpl.com/united-states-population/table" rel="nofollow">LINK for Census information</a><br /><a href="http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm" rel="nofollow">LINK for minimum wage levels over time</a>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-9715504557721711382015-11-17T05:38:33.353+00:002015-11-17T05:38:33.353+00:00Dean Baker points out that using a higher inflatio...Dean Baker points out that using a higher inflation rate calculation implies a lower real rate of growth rate for the economy and, conversely, a lower inflation rate calculation suggests that a greater rate of real economic growth prevails. Right away, I'm sure everyone sees where I'm going with this and how it ties in with Avedon's post.<br /><br />The minimum wage was <b>$1.60 per hour in 1968</b> and, once adjusted for inflation, that is the highest real dollar value that the minimum wage ever has reached since a $0.25 an hour minimum wage was first established in 1938 by the Fair Labor Standards Act. If we were to use the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) inflation calculator which converts one year's price levels to another using the Consumer Price Index for all Urban consumers (CPI-U) as opposed to, say the Chained-Consumer Price Index for all Urban consumers (C-CPI-U) we'd find that <b>$1.60/hr. in 1968 was worth $10.88 at the end of 2014.</b><br /><br />According to Table 10.1 in the Office of Management and Budget's <i>Historical Tables</i> the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1968 was $899.3 billion in nominal or current dollars (i.e. inflation unadjusted dollars). That was at a time when the population was at 200.71 million people, and therefore the nominal per capita (or per person) income in the country was at $4,481. According to the BLS calculator that nominal per capita income would have been worth $30,483 in 2014 dollars.<br /><br />In 2014 the GDP of United States was $17,244 billion (or $17.244 trillion), the population was at 318.86 million people, and therefore the per capita 2014 income in 2014 dollars was $54,080. As that 2014 per capita income amount is 1.77 times larger than the adjusted 1968 per capita amount this is a basis for arguing that in order to keep the hourly minimum wage should be at <b>1.75 <i>times</i> the adjusted $10.88 level from 1968 which would have set it at $19.04/hr. at the end of 2014</b>- per capita GDP being, perhaps, the most meaningful measure of the dollar wealth of a nation.<br /><br />Alternatively, we could use the OMB's GDP deflator and again make 2014 our base year for the real dollar value we're using. (The deflator relies on a formula that makes certain chained adjustments (substitutions) and measures all prices in the economy, not just those for consumer purchases. It is considered the better tool to track real GDP growth across the years.)<br /><br />We would then conclude that <b>$1.60 in 1968 was worth $8.54/hr. in 2014,</b> and that the adjusted per capita income in 1968 was $23,929. From those numbers we would see 2014's per capita income as 2.26 times greater than 1968's and conclude that the minimum wage should be <b>2.26 <i>times</i> greater than $8.54 and therefore have been set at $19.30/hr at the end of 2014.</b><br /><br />And at this point we could start arguing the justification for protecting the share of the total economy going to low wage workers. We might begin by pointing out that Alan Greenspan and, especially, both Paul Volcker and Ben Bernanke used the Federal Reserve to protect capital's share of the economy by prioritizing the control of inflation over their co-equal legal mandate to minimize unemployment. The unemployment rate is the prime determinant of the level of wage rates, especially among low wage workers, and controlling its level has been of secondary concern to our government for more than thirty five years and counting....CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-78312534224535943832015-11-14T23:16:54.239+00:002015-11-14T23:16:54.239+00:00Over here in the New World we can't get that P...Over here in the New World we can't get that Procol Harum video. I recommend settling for this for this sock hop version from a happier day not so long ago in France <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkvDZPTrPFA" rel="nofollow">[LINK].</a>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-14474881706983380672015-11-14T00:56:10.922+00:002015-11-14T00:56:10.922+00:00Funny how the yea votes flipped nay at five in the...Funny how the yea votes flipped nay at five in the afternoon of the Ohio marijuana initiative. Seen that before, we have.<br /><br />Thunder, in Oregon we have the option to register as a Non Party Affiliated voter, which then penalizes us for or independence by denying participation in party primaries. I'm cool with. If I could, rest assured I would, and if he makes the ticket I won't be holding my nose. Else, yeah, it's a throw away vote, Green, Socialist, Working Families, but it's my vote to throw away, votes I don't throw away downstream.<br /><br />Jeb? v Jeb? in a Dress!, Willard v Hillary, is not a choice. It's the status quo, just more of the same.Ten Bearshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06594307610015584119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-66251642663474707802015-11-13T17:58:44.189+00:002015-11-13T17:58:44.189+00:00The really not credible election results in KY rei...The really not credible election results in KY reinforce my experience in the TX district that gave the progressive I supported exactly the same proportion of votes in each polling place for two separate elections. The right wing does not really want to be believed, it just steals the power and money, and runs.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17553541514560319083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-74617525485135444422015-11-12T19:20:33.186+00:002015-11-12T19:20:33.186+00:00A great post, Avedon! Thanks and thanks again. I...A great post, Avedon! Thanks and thanks again. I've shared numerous of these items on Facebook, and gave you credit for bringing them to my attention.<br /><br />I notice that a lot of Clinton's boosters are stressing not how good her positions are -- perhaps because they aren't good -- but how important it supposedly is that we have a woman president. Here's the thing: it isn't important, it isn't important at all that we have a woman president, just that it was not important at all that we have a black president. It's a nice detail, but if you really oppose racism and sexism, the plumbing or pigmentation of the President is not important. What we need is not a woman president or a black president, but a *good* one. (Obama has been mediocre at best, and often quite bad.) Sex and skin color are not qualifications. I'm not sure that even Bernie Sanders will be a good president -- but hey, isn't it important that American have its first Jewish president? He might be better than the rest of the field, and I'm willing to vote for him, but I am not a cheerleader for anybody, and I do not trust cheerleaders.Duncan Mitchelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14404037779521807223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-73256421916510555242015-11-12T17:26:26.369+00:002015-11-12T17:26:26.369+00:00TPP is released; Bernie Sanders says "Now tha...<i>TPP is released; Bernie Sanders says "Now that the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership has finally been released, it is even worse than I thought.</i><br /><br />It is very clear to me that Bernie Sanders deserves everyone's support in the Democratic primary, regardless of whether one plans to vote lesser evil on Tuesday, November 8, 2016.<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-35967505102525621772015-11-12T14:35:09.443+00:002015-11-12T14:35:09.443+00:00I'm holding a virtual book sale of all my curr...I'm holding a <a href="http://welcomebacktopottersville.blogspot.com/2015/11/virtual-book-sale.html" rel="nofollow">virtual book sale</a> of all my current titles still in print. They're all affordable. Even if you don't buy anything, please spread the word. We desperately need the money.jurassicporkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01673461210301442978noreply@blogger.com