Robert B. Reich's Blog, page 20

The Delta Variant and the Trumper Blame Game

As the highly contagious Delta variant surges, public health officials are trying to keep the focus...

Guns, Desperate Migrants, and Dangerous Drugs

Even as Republican members of Congress accuse Joe Biden of failing to secure the nation’s southern...

A Trump Bombshell Quietly Dropped Last Week. And It Should Shock Us All.

We’ve become so inured to Donald Trump’s proto-fascism that we barely blink an eye when we learn...

Covid is Resurging. So is Trumpian Politics.

Despair is worse after a brief period of hope. I don’t know about you, but I was elated earlier this...

The GOP’s Continuing Descent into Opportunistic Treachery

I don’t know about you, but I was elated earlier this spring when it seemed as if Trump and COVID...

This 1916 Experiment Made Workers WealthyProfit-sharing is an...

This 1916 Experiment Made Workers Wealthy

Profit-sharing is an old idea that emerged in 1916. Major companies like Sears, Procter & Gamble, Pillsbury, Kodak, and U.S. Steel all joined the profit-sharing movement, giving their workers shares of stock so the workers actually owned part of the company.

Profit-sharing gave workers an incentive to be more productive since the success of the company meant higher profits would be shared. It also reduced the need for layoffs during recessions because payroll costs dropped as profits did.But profit-sharing with employees has all but disappeared in large corporations, which have increasingly focused on maximizing shareholder returns. 

At the same time, profit-sharing with top executives has soared as big Wall Street banks, hedge funds, private-equity funds, and high-tech companies have doled out huge amounts of stock and stock options to their MVPs.Share prices have gone into the stratosphere while wages have barely risen. 

 Sharing profits with all workers is a logical and necessary step to making the system work for the many, not the few.

Why Aren’t Biden and the Democrats Going All Out for Democracy?

You’d think President Biden and the Democratic Party leadership would do everything in their power...

Worker Power

Imagine a world where workers have real power. In this world, workers are paid a living wage, are...

How Workers Can Reclaim Power From Bezos & BillionairesFor...

How Workers Can Reclaim Power From Bezos & Billionaires

For the past 40 years, the voice of workers has been steadily drowned out in both the workplace and on the national political stage by the voice of big corporations.This massive power shift wasn’t the result of “free market forces” but of political choices. 

Now, it’s time to make the political choice to strengthen the voice of all workers.Reversing 40 years of shareholder capitalism won’t be easy. But remember this: you, the working people of America, outnumber the corporate executives and big investors by a wide margin. 

Together, you can change the rules, and build a world where workers have real power.

The Fake Heroism of Space Billionaires

Within hours, Jeff Bezos will blast off into space, a week after Richard Branson went up. Another...