Undoing Regulation and the Cost of Labor

The new governor wants to be the gate keeper of an over reaching legislative body on job killing regulation.  This isn't that he wants to make use of the Wisconsin Governor's extensive veto power, no he wants to be able to undue any regulation, past or present.  With this much power the question that everyone should be asking is why do we need a legislative body?  If you want to cut the budget get rid of the legislature.

Will cutting the job killing regulations bring jobs to Wisconsin when these jobs have gone to places without any job killing regulations or the even greater job killing wages?  If we undue all environmental regulations it would be a start.  But, in the end wages are going to be a problem.  We are competing with countries whose wage rates are 5 or more times less than ours.  Yet you have the Federal Reserve chair stating that he doesn't see deflationary pressure.  He must be blind.  It is all around.  We have lost jobs to low wage countries and workers in this country have taken pay cuts.  The price of products has not declined, so sales are off because wages are down.  At some point the price of products needs to come in line with the new cost of labor.  When that happens we will enter a deflationary economy. 

Jonah, Jonah, Jonah

I'm reading the paper this morning and Jonah Goldberg is commenting on the Colbert testimony.  Jonah proves once again that Republicans don't get it.  At one point he brings up the testimony of a professor who mentioned how illegal immigrants depress wages and  keep working conditions poor.  He then says that Colbert essentially called her a liar.  NO, Colbert essentially pointed out two things.  First that conservatives don't see this as a problem and second that they want to see depressed wages because it is good for the country.  Look at their immigration measures.  They are for a "guest worker" program.  Why is this so bad, it gives legal status they say.  Yes it does but it preserves the low wages, no benefits, send them back approach that we have now.  The whole point of the take our jobs program was to bring attention to the low wages aspect of farm work.  That part of the equation is not going to change.  Colbert pointed that out with his comment about creating vegetables that pick themselves.  No wages, no workers, American technology at its best.  We are in a race too the bottom.  The conservatives don't mind the illegal immigrants as long as they know their place.  They are against the minimum wage because it is inflationary, which is true, but without it these jobs would be paying by piece work or a couple of dollars an hour.

Wolf appliance

Wolf Appliance asked its Madison employees for a 20% pay cut toady. The employees said no. I thought WOW in this economy any job is better than no job. One employee who voted no explained it like this, "either way I'm doomed, the pay cut puts me on the street and losing my job puts me on the street". My question to Wolf (makers of very expensive stoves) is would the prices also decline by 20%? My guess is no. For some reason business hasn't figured out that if we continue to depress wages and benefits they lose. At some point (I think that we are there) we won't have enough people to buy things to keep the economy going.

We also have Harley Davidson doing the same thing. They can't compete because people don't have $17,000 to spend on a motorcycle that won't be driven all year and gets bad gas mileage. When they leave prices won't go down.

Henry Ford believed that his workers should be able to buy the cheapest car made and paid accordingly. Today's executives could learn something from him.