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Originally Posted by wittynickname
This isn't about raising taxes. This is about stopping corporations from taking advantage of government programs by paying their employees obscenely, inhumanely low wages. Companies aren't going to magically pay employees well out of the goodness of their hearts, so without some kind of cap on CEO/executive pay, these companies are going to just keep shoving low wage workers farther and farther into poverty, more and more low wage workers are going to depend on the government to cover their basic needs, and then people like you and me get to pay the difference.
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While I agree CEO pay has become excessive, cutting that pay won't do anything to put more money in the pockets of average workers. $4 million split among 20,000 employees is a negligible amount. The problem is that capital has become stronger than labour in sectors where there's lots of available labour.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wittynickname
But if we make these multinational corporations pay decent wages, then that takes a lot of pressure off of the government and taxpayers. Let Walmart pay their own workers, they've got the money. Because when Walmart pays their employees properly--those employees have more money and can afford to shop somewhere other than Walmart. Those employees now have spending power to buy new cars, new homes, to go on vacation. Those employees now have disposable income that goes back into the economy, and when they spend those extra dollars, they also pay sales tax on those dollars, which increases overall tax revenue, which decreases the amount that higher wage earners need to pay.
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That sounds nice and all. But: 1) How do you make multinational corporations pay decent wages? The whole point of multinationals is they have operations all over the world in different labour environments. 2) How do you get the public onboard with paying more for stuff? Because if labour costs go up, prices go up. 3) What to do about technology? Push the cost of labour high enough and it becomes more attractive to simply replace people with automation. It's already happening - self-serve checkouts everywhere from WalMart to McDonalds. Do you forbid companies from innovating with cost-saving technology? That would require massive interventions in the economy. And if you suppress innovation by Canadian and American companies., how do you stop them from being overtaken by companies in other countries that press ahead with technological advances?