Thank you sir Can't believe I can access this knowledge on my phone despite living in far and way different world than USA. Amazing professor and lecture. Love from Somalia 🇸🇴.
@@aceous99 it already has put more money in my pocket because tax cuts create more jobs which creates a higher demand for labor and that gets me paid more. That's a fact, it's happening as we speak but unfortunately the democrats spent so much we still lost purchasing power.
Very stimulating. I am an 81-year-old (yes, dob 1942, life did exist pre 1946) wife of a former university teacher of labour economics (at LSE) and exposed to bits of this over the years (I used to claim to be an economist by osmosis). Am very much impressed with your lectures, for their content, style and thoughtful delivery. Am also a fellow Substack writer (The Granny Who Stands on her Head).
Thank for sharing. My mum was born in 1917 and Dad in 1922 both in England. They came to NZ in 1950 with suit case. Working class background. They lived in flat in NZ with two pots, two plates etc. Simple life by 1970 , 16 years they managed to own house (mortgage free) . Two kids. Now days this not possible for most in New Zealand.
Thanks so much Robert for providing free access to this course. I'm a 64 y/o Australian baby boomer and love that you are informing both the current generation of young adults - and anyone else who wants to partake. (I'm also providing my 35 y/o daughter w what I consider key points as she's time poor). Baby-boomers, if they're aware enough, are able to see what's happened through the rear view mirror with the context of living through the times you 're discussing. Listening to your presentation made me understand that there is a generation or two who has not experienced anything other than the current paradigms. Thank you for making it your mission to show what has been and is still going on. As the course progresses I imagine we will be reviewing new (or maybe old ;-) possibilities. I'm so enjoying being in the classroom again 🙂
I have 11 years on you, and while my 50 yo son and I agree that things have changed, the changes have been harder on him than on me. He has his Masters, but feels it is a joke; he is now, and for the foreseeable future, a wage slave. But back in the 90's when he was in HS, it made sense; the only criteria used was salary potential.
That graph about corporate profit margins really needs an update, not because the information you show is bad in any way, but to also show the insane price gouging corporations engaged in in 2020-2022 as demonstrated by the explosion in their profit margins, and I think it might tie nicely back in to your conversation regarding if it's okay for the genie to make people at the top richer and leave everyone else the same.
Professor Reich, your salary would be in the millions if being a “star” were the only necessary justification. This was informative, thoroughly engrossing, and unforgettable.
Thank you professor. Economics 101 disturbed me greatly back when I was in college as it was completely devoid of basic human behavior & psychology. It's good to hear being used.
It seems to me there is often an appeal to stakeholder morality from those most interested in a shareholder model. And thank you for publishing these lectures.
First Thank you Professor for making these lectures available to us. Wow I'm not even religious but its looking like money is the root of all evil or at least allows it to flourish.
Thank you, Prof. Reich. What I like about this parti:ular class, and perhaps the Class. overall, it the empwowerment of the individual. I had never shopped at Walmart until I was fully handicapped, had to give up driving. So now I feel conflicted; not only do I shop there, but use delivery. For me, it's a matter of survival.I share, only to share that things are not as simple for some folks as they are for others. 😢
It isn't. There's only 500 S&P CEOs. Try adding up their earnings vs income earned overall.... It's a drop in the bucket. He's just using that meaningless example to stoke anti-1% sentiment because that's his political bent, and he's not an economist... he's a lawyer and politician. Automation and expansion of the workforce (both domestically and via outsourcing) are the main reasons for the increasing wealth gap. More supply of workers without an increase of demand = lower relative wages.
@@steviejay9245that's wrong. We're told there's a shortage of workers right now, July 2024. So your point is moot. He doesn't hate the top 1 percenters he's simply stating truthfully that they need to pay their fair share. Also when they get tax breaks they don't use that money to hire more workers or raise wages of current employees (trickle down) they use it to buy up their own stock so they can manipulate the true value of their business.
Thank you for sharing your insights and vast understanding on this important subject that affects us all. I feel I have learned a great deal from your lessons.
Makes me rethink the story about CEOs that gives up their salary to help their workers during hard times. It also confirms more about the CEOs that didn't even bother to do so.
@@susanelizabeth2222 Aaron Feuerstein? He may be thought of as a poor businessman by a certain class of people, but I'd say he was a man of rare principles. A real mensch, as they say. He tried like heck to save the company, and failed in the end. But what he did (or at least tried to do) for his people was almost unheard of, and a great triumph of humanity (at least in the context of the business world). More people should know about his integrity, because we need all the examples we can get.
This is the best lecture in economics I ever attended - practical and reflect the real economics. Really understand the economic and instead dry theorems, without connection to real econ. Thank you prof. Reich for your clean demonstration of the political economy and the roll of government.
Thank you Professor Reich for making your lectures available. I am curious to hear your views on ESG investments as it relates to this course, and what impact it will have on the purpose of the corporation. Thank you.
ESG is a fraud masquerading as caring when really it has control from the top written all over it. It attends to the needs of the WEF elites more than communities from the grass roots ground up.
So excellent, Robert, thank you so much for sharing this course. Just a thought about the 80s-90s: cocaine use among CEOs, athletes, movie stars, was strong during that time and in my opinion contributed to their narcissistic wild demands for excessive pay without regard to consequences, and maybe contributed to their indifference to workers, communities, etc. in the decisions they made to get rid of the "bloat," in their corporate raiding. They were flying high on their own perceived power.
A movie I found disturbing, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” where a single parent “works hard” selling worthless stocks (unscrupulous careless sales of stocks of unknowable future), pressuring purchasers in boiler-room operations, “raises a good-kid despite all odds.” Brrr. I didn’t read the book which may have indicate the father’s heart felt guilty, rather than the film which only indicates the Will Smith character as sincere, admirable and heroic. Bletch. No conscience for the potential wreckage where the-odds are low what he “worked” to sell was worth more than spit. Fuelled by cocaine (the production, the circa 1980s naive storyline, the actor).
Remember too that people with psychopathic and sociopath tendencies are also the ones that are motivated the most quite often to climb the ladder by doing horrible things to other people and stepping over them. They seek power and once they have power they implement these things which doesn't help. Also all of these issues are allowed because govt and corporations play off of each other to the expense of the average person typically since there are revolving doors with govt and corps too. Then larger scale or even global scale makes it worse as human beings have a tendency to not feel as much when they cannot see or do not know who they are hurting with their choices. That is why people have road rage that is worse than bumping into another human on the street, because the human eye contact and interaction triggers are not initiated psychologically, so it is more like an inanimate object or number to these CEOs than living, breathing humans beings.
I'd like to add to the discussion regarding how "we are all implicated in this system" (online retail vs storefront). A valid point, as i see it, is that some consumers, especially in rural areas and closed-off neighborhoods, have little choice but to go to large on-line retailers or big-box stores for goods. For example, in my small town in rural South Dakota there used to be small manufacturing, small implement/agricultural businesses, a pharamacy, a grocery store, etc. However, because of structural issues, policy, and other pressures, these businesses and industries no longer exist here. So, as a consumer, I may have to drive 60 miles (this is much closer than many folks in rural America may have to travel) to the nearest city to get groceries and other goods and services I want and need. Thus, the tension between consumer belief and consumer choice (do i seek the cheapest deal on Amazon or do I put money back into my community by supporting small businesses) is not exactly a fair supposition for all Americans. The unfortunate reality is that I no longer even have the choice to buy some goods or services locally. Of course, the argument could be made that this is always the case: geographic location, market competition, supply/demand, etc. are always drivers of local economies. Still, I would counter, the demand/need for goods and services here has not changed. What has changed is ability of massive corporations, through their accrued wealth and power, to supply goods and services at rates and values well below what a small business can. Essentially, they're not here because they cannot compete with big money. This trend is present in every industry in America. The mantra that many farmers are familiar with is "get big, or get out." The unfortunate side effect is consolidation of wealth, making it harder and harder for small farmers to compete. Market pressures make expenses go up significantly, extreme competition for limited land resources drive land prices through the roof, etc. It's no mystery where I live, that is impossible to become a farmer today without extreme risk (large sums of borrowed money; aka, debt), wealthy benefactors/investors, or intergenerational transfer of wealth/lan. In fact, many small farmers do not have enough equity to "get big" even if they want to (they can't borrow the money to buy the land to grow their business). Small farmers are then driven to find efficiencies through technologies, etc. Then, efficiency leads to more over-production, which drives down commodity prices, which impacts their bottom line. Thus, they go bankrupt and the big corporations benefit through economies of scale. As I see it, within agriculture, we are headed towards a system where a few, very wealthy corporations will own all the land and means of production on that land, and "farmers" will either become employees, or, maybe, the land they used to own will be leased back to them on limited contracts. What i am describing is, in essence, serfdom (this thing is going medieval ;)). The system that we have today is so deeply flawed, yet it has been sown into every fabic of our existence. These are incredibly complicated issues that will require a tremendous amount of careful, thoughtful consideration to even begin fixing. I wish it could be as simple as "eat the rich," but what would happen to retirement funds and 401k's, etc. Without careful implementation of good policy the entire economy may collapse in a manner that would make the great depression look like the good ol' days. I'm very happy this class is available to the masses, and grateful that students are learning about all of this, but, again, this stuff requires a tremendous amount of deep, critical thinking if we are to ever have a chance of correcting course. Sorry for being so long-winded. I love thinking about all of this and wish I could be in this classroom and engage in discussions with these young people who will be the ones having to wrestle with incredibly challenging issues in the rapidly approaching future (and I'm not sure I like the way it's likely to shape-out). Cheers
As a small business person myself, (and a psychology major - one of my degrees) I have observed this behavior of saying and doing two different things. Even small business owners do not always support each other financially. I am happy to say that I always made a conscience effort to buy small. My first business was a photo studio for about 20 years. Once you're an owner you see things from a different perspective. That's when I always bought as local as possible. I can say that the local community also had poor wages. Florida income is skewed because of the high and low income brackets. It was true that many people might want to pay but didn't. Some could but still didn't. It's an interesting behavior to "vote" with your dollars for something we don't want?
@@bcase5328 that is true. Agreed. I was shocked to find out the percentage Amazon takes for online purchases. I don't know how a small retail can make enough to stay in business at that % point.
I’m in my 50’s and the word “economy” used to mean something to me. If the economy was “strong,” it was good news for everyone. These days, when I here the word, “economy,” it means nothing to me. It has no relevancy to me. If the economy is strong, I get no benefit. So, I think to myself, when I hear that word, “Who’s economy???” Edited to add: Maybe this is why when the news media speaks of the GDP and economy, it kinda pisses me off. Not only is it a valuable waste of airtime that only has relevancy to the 1%, but it is like rubbing dirt in the faces of those trying to improve their situation in a system that does NOT honor social compacts, except in extremely rare cases which they love to crow from the rooftops.
@Pallasathena-hv4kp I hear you loud and clear. I recall the "K-shaped recovery" that was occasionally mentioned in the media after the worst of the COVID economy. That made the situation quite visible, but eventually I guess they decided it wasn't worth talking about. The wealthy pay for legislation. The non-wealthy only have one viable alternative (and it's not voting, though we should certainly vote). Organization. That's the cure for our nationwide division, the cure for stagnating or barely increasing wages, the only way for the working people to hold our government to the old principle of "by the people, for the people", and to hold our employers to basic standards of humanity and fairness. But I know that organization (or unionization, if you're okay with that word) is not easy, particularly in "Right to Work" states. I think things will get better as the nation matures, but maybe not in our lifetimes, sadly.
Nonsense if you look at the debt clock you will see that unskilled workers outnumber skilled workers which explains the income gap don't you think skilled workers should have more than unskilled workers should not a doctor make more than a fast food worker
If you want to understand why so many are opposed to and even hostile toward liberal arts education , look no furthur than this video. Robert Reich is the professor your parents warned you about, exposing the youth to antiquated ideas such as "moral philosophy" and "economic rent" from dangerous radicals like Adam Smith and David Richardo. This can only lead our youth to consider the ideas of the most dangerous of them all, Karl Marx. I speak from experience. As a student in the 1960s, an education funded with our precious tax dollars, I encountered these types of professors and they turned me into a Communist. In the interveing years I came to my senses and am now a dedicated follower of Bernie Sanders and Democratic Socialism.
Then you are a thief of the worst kind unless you pay half your income to the government to pay for the handouts he wants we have a debt so big it defies belief because of democrat handouts our children will inherit a bankrupt shell of a nation because you won't pay enough taxes to support all the handouts he wants why is that
Another aspect of the consumerist, rather than citizen, mindset is the appeal to convenience. Many people shop online (and use self checkout) because it's presumably more convenient than shopping in person. Of course, it becomes a cycle, because large chains have offered fewer of their offerings in their retail establishments, forcing customers to go online to access them, and on and on. Using self checkout is even more of a situation, as it's often not as convenient and timesaving for customers as many want to think--but it sure hoovers up more profits to the corporations installing them. Of course, many retailers are also making it more difficult to shop in person without using self checkout, so the monetarily extractive cycle continues.
I am enjoying your class. Love your clarification that the market and government are part of the same cloth and that market results occur within the structure of government policy. Your stock market chart does indeed appear to "explode" and correlate with the rise of CEO pay. However, If you plot a stock market series with reinvested dividends and adjusted for inflation on a logarithmic scale the trend the last 20 or 40 years is quite ordinary and consistent with the hundred preceding years. The rise in CEO pay may be better explained by the drop in the top tax rates and brackets for both ordinary income and capital gains. Back when taking an additional few million in pay would have mostly gone to personal taxes CEOs were more likely to feed ego by building strong companies, rather than pulling so much personal income out.
18:15 Another Value Check is when at home at no cost to the Consumer Citizen (instead, possible monetary savings) do you conscientiously CONSERVE WATER, ie not let it go down the drain when brushing teeth; and turn off lights when exiting a room- that’s a real test IMHO. The little things add up and are so easy to do, if we truly care❤❤❤
They started drilling that to us in the mid and late 1970s in elementary school and repeated the message several times….. and I’m glad they diid as it helped me do the right thing and get yelled at less from parents lol
I really liked the $1000 game. Neither A nor B get anything unless B agrees to A's offer. A is dependant on B. But, as A is offered the money, it's easy for A to think it is their money - it's easy to forget that they can only access that money if B says yes. It's easy not to see the value B brings to the interaction. A can easily think anything they give B is a bonus to B. This has the potential to devalue the role of B. It really shows the social contract. We are dependant on eachother.
Thank you for allowing access to your lectures! You mean I don’t have to take out an indentured servitude contract to access higher education in the DSA? (Divided States of America)? Take that USC! You were in the room where it happened! You warned them! What other atrocities are overlooked in the name of “competition”?
I watch this & dread the next election!! :( Thanks for sharing this class. It's only become worse over the past 5 years since this course was taught. SO appreciate this!!
Thank you so much for posting this Professor Reich! This was a great lecture, but if anyone interested in learning how free-market capitalism has created historic wealth and income inequality, please do read his book on "Saving Capitalism: For the Many, not the Few." Indeed. It talks of how 1945 - 1970, was the golden age of capitalism - since it was heavily regulated, and wealth and income was shared broadly, not narrowly. Corporations and free enterprise had to contend with countervailing power of collective bargaining power of trade unions, and wages and productivity were analogous, when adjusted for inflation. It was not until the 1970s the capitalists and the interests of free enterprise (e.g. U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable) declared an onslaught. Lewis Powell wrote a corporate blueprint to use their lobbying prowess to organize the market rules in their favor. They started lobbying the courts, legislature, and administrative agencies to protect the profits of private corporations and industries. Neoliberalism was the forefront of justifying their endeavors, stating self-regulated markets without any government regulation or oversight was needed to make the economy grow in productivity and growth (otherwise known as trickle-down economics). During this period, more corporations had monopoly of power over intellectual property, they expanded their operations overseas, they started automating and cutting jobs, and only sought to protect the interest of their shareholders. Public good programs were gutted, and more services that were formerly public went towards privatization. It has created socioeconomic disparities and stratified social order that puts more people at disadvantage towards mobility. These corporations felt no moral and civic duty to protect the interests of the American people - instead they would prioritize their business and operation, along with their shareholders. More business interest tried to reduce the power and scope of federal government, and find ways to allow unrestricted markets to flourish. They opposed Keynesian economics, or expansionary fiscal policy (in other words, government subsidies that may potentially help the working and middle class) - and were strong proponents of neoliberalism.Now we have unfettered capitalism that has devastated the middle and working class from living well. Please also read "Consequences of Capitalism" by Noam Chomsky as well. Republicans and regressives have always purported that America is a meritocracy, and have always espoused the idea that self-regulated markets are efficient in allocating and distributing resources, income, and wealth. They have repudiated welfare states and social safety nets, using the Malthusian argument - stating that the poor deserve to be poor, and redistributive policies will be abused and working class people are responsible for their own poverty. Please be better informed. We're seeing the iron law of oligarchy unfold in our very legislatures, courts, and administrative agencies. Professor Reich is an awesome lecturer and political analyst. I have never been his student, but I've watched all his lectures, read all his books, and seen all his interviews. He's fighting for the collective good, and he is fighting for us to look towards civic virtue. This is a collective action problem - and we must build coalitions in response to the rising inequality that has given elite plutocrats a system-built advantage. Thank you Professor, I really wish I attended your lectures as a student- but UC Berkeley was too expensive for me! I'm glad you published your lectures and books!
Very sobering, and very revealing. I retired last year at age 70, and despite not doing too badly, I had sensed that something (vibe, attitude, economic structure, etc) had shifted during my lifetime. In 1990s I was too busy raising several children after a divorce, and scrambling to keep it all together, to figure out details, but - pow! This comes close to revelation! I will share this lecture, as well as the link to the TH-cam channel, with my adult children and friends. Combined mental energy, information, and effort are needed here, not just now but going forward. Thank you!
Great talk!!!! I do want to add that I buy more online because my local stores don't have it. Since so many people shop online, stores stock less in the stores, especially drug stores. Also, how else can I book a flight? I'm only aware of doing it online. Thanks so much!!
Brilliant lecturing series. Lovely to see a room of young folks engaged with such high quality information and thinking. Thank you for sharing with the world.
I always thought it was the Reagan administration that increased CEO compensation so dramatically through stock options. This was a major revelation for me. So much goes on that the public is not made aware of.
I don't know if linking compensation to performance is a good idea or a bad idea, but I do know that buying back stock to artificially inflate the price is not performance.
I like the questions to the audience. I have been asking these questions to my co-workers for years. Also the following....Should wages be related to the Cost of living or Quality of life? Does Anti-Trust Laws in America Capitalism support or destroy democracy?
Thankyou! I appreciate how you explain this in simple terms. I am terrified for the USA if Trump gets in and begin to change laws even more by Republicans. I am Canadian and understand so much better why so much foreign businessis here and how we will also loose. I am so glad I am 73!
Although I want to shop locally, care about sustainable products, that the workers who made, transported etc. make a decent living, I have a pretty much fixed income and so have to choose price over other things. So it's a tough call when you are struggling financially.
By first thought in this roll playing business model was " you mentioned the limitations on the tax write offs for a CEO but have not addressed tax write write offs when it regarding everyday workers" then toward the end when talking about the competition with the Japanese automotive industry...... Japan has universal healthcare! That alone is comparing apples to oranges with economy! Healthcare plays such a huge roll that comparing the U.S. to any other country that offers universal healthcare is comparing apples to oranges!
In the late 70s, in an economics class (the economists we read where John Kenneth Galbraith and Milton Friedman) the stat I remember was 20% of the people have 80% of the 'goods'.
At 12:35 if is interesting that there is no choice but to shop online for some things as Prof Reich pointed out. Also if you are needing, not seeking but needing, a bargain, small shops are not in a position to give them to you. The problem is that the large corporations can well afford to pay well and give steady regular hours but they do not have to, because they know at the moment you are stuck with them without a viable alternative.
a 5 star lecture, a must see - what is the real solution? consumers or the majority of the public must be educated to support the human way of life, rather than the material way of life, a far lower realm, a realm that is fundamentally without feeling :) the human way of life must stand up to the material way of life, and not be influenced by it. if consumers would support, by their buying conduct, the human way of life, and in that process feel good about paying more for products, and being willing to make the physical effort to support local businesses, then society would have the basis for thwarting the movement toward the inhuman spiral that comes from giving in to the material realm - yes? :)
The Reagan administration also closed most of the large mental hospitals with the goal of "returning the patients to the community." They've been returned to the community and now they're homeless, living on the streets.
I wish I was in the audience. I don't understand why nobody in the class said that the company is not really looking for the best it is always looking for the people who will benefit that company. Those type of companies just want someone who is going to follow their status quo which is profit over anything else.
@17:20 - none of those three reasons….. But instead, safety. Crime in the Bay Area…. and some of us can’t go shopping like at 10:00 AM on a weekday or bring friends for safety . Or don’t wanna deal with the road ragers…Or vandals breaking into our car - let alone being followed or potentially robbed if we’re doing it after dark and alone. I would be happy to make small donations to my favorite stores in town to help them stay open however .
"To make to points, number one, nobody is a villain here. I'm not saying anybody has done anything wrong. Everybody is simply following incentives built into the system. And number two, let me emphasize, and explanation is not a justification!." -- “The Investor's View” 53:33 by UC Berkeley Professor Reich
Surprised Robert didn't talk about the rise of compensation consultants and the ludicrous desire to hire 'only the best' (whatever that is). Consultants rose in prominence in the '80/'90s - they convinced BODs to approve ludicrous salaries/perks based on need to 'be competitive'. 'We can't pay less than average salaries if we want superior managers'. So what happened? Everyone decided that they needed to make sure their 'superior' managers got higher than average salaries, so they paid above average. Guess what happened when everyone decided to pay above average? Conveniently, the average had to go up - and so we ended up in an 'above average' race. So 20-30x salaries in the 60s/70s quickly zoomed to 350x today. Did managers suddenly get 10-15x scarcer? 10-15x better? Nope. The exact opposite happened with the huge explosion in B-school grads in the last 40 years. It's vastly different than a handful of movie stars or a few hundred professional athletes (who have very short careers vs managers), so conflating them with 'stars' is ridiculous.
Your lectures should be given in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is not that far removed from the US. Here, too, the welfare state has been phased out and liberalised. All kinds of government tasks have been marketed, as a result of which a great deal of knowledge has disappeared from the executive organizations of the government. Knowledge must be purchased and that costs the government a lot of money / tax money! The government's dependence on market parties has only grown. The market dictates, not the government. This applies to all areas in which the government acts. In the Netherlands we had stakeholder capitalism (the Rhineland model) aimed at the longer term and growth of the company, now only shareholder capitalism, aimed at the short term and the profit of the shareholder. The Netherlands is currently experiencing all kinds of policy crises, in the field of health care, the climate, pensions, etc. and they all have to do with the privatization of government tasks and the resulting loss of knowledge. Unfortunately, the political discussion is not about that. The voters/citizens are ignorant and think that what matters is which party rules or which politician becomes the prime minister of the Netherlands. Citizens are not told that many of the government's problems can be traced back to this neoliberal thinking of less government and more market forces.
What I find missing in this discussion is the customers of the company. It seems safe to assume that any public company either make products to sell or services to sell. Why is the major responsibility to maximize shareholder returns? Seems to me the major concern should be to ensure the company keeps and increases their customer base and only then try to maximize shareholder returns.
11:00 Like small shops and bookstores? Amoeba Records, Shakespeare & Co., Cody's Books ....how many great Berkeley shops are gone forever? Telegraph is hardly worth a stroll anymore.
@24:00 interesting to note the slide comparing top earning baseball stars to CEOs, none of the 3 modern era stars ever won a championship with their team. They were all excellent players but still not worth investment in terms of winning.
The whole "our ONLY goal is to maximize shareholder return" bit has always struck me as being morally disgusting and downright evil. We should change it.
The shareholders are the owners of which maney pensions are invested in corperations if the corperation loses taxes revenue workers lose there jobs and pensions invested in the corperation lose money
Thank you Robert Reich for being a voice of sanity at a time when insanity is highly rewarded
Thank you sir
Can't believe I can access this knowledge on my phone despite living in far and way different world than USA.
Amazing professor and lecture.
Love from Somalia 🇸🇴.
This is so powerful! Thank you for allowing us all to audit your class.
Yep! I am finally getting the education I deserve.
@@wisecoconut5😂 fake economists won't give you a real education.
@@yourdaddy-mq4km shilling for trickle down economics won't get u richer either
@@yourdaddy-mq4km Just try to prove this is fake. He well explains why our economic ideas with numbers.
@@aceous99 it already has put more money in my pocket because tax cuts create more jobs which creates a higher demand for labor and that gets me paid more. That's a fact, it's happening as we speak but unfortunately the democrats spent so much we still lost purchasing power.
Very stimulating. I am an 81-year-old (yes, dob 1942, life did exist pre 1946) wife of a former university teacher of labour economics (at LSE) and exposed to bits of this over the years (I used to claim to be an economist by osmosis). Am very much impressed with your lectures, for their content, style and thoughtful delivery. Am also a fellow Substack writer (The Granny Who Stands on her Head).
Thank for sharing. My mum was born in 1917 and Dad in 1922 both in England. They came to NZ in 1950 with suit case. Working class background. They lived in flat in NZ with two pots, two plates etc. Simple life by 1970 , 16 years they managed to own house (mortgage free) . Two kids. Now days this not possible for most in New Zealand.
you're a chat-bot. Ive seen your profile picture and sentiment on some other unrelated videos. It's funny these fine Canadians fall for it.
@@pubfixturewho are you even talking to?
I have been reading your books (yes paper books!) And following you for several years. Thank you for your work.
This is true democracy. Publication of high quality education accesibable to us all. Thanks a lot
Why should I pay for your college education?
@@JeanneneNelson So by your metrics we should all live in the same house and make the same income? Wtf?
Thanks so much Robert for providing free access to this course. I'm a 64 y/o Australian baby boomer and love that you are informing both the current generation of young adults - and anyone else who wants to partake. (I'm also providing my 35 y/o daughter w what I consider key points as she's time poor). Baby-boomers, if they're aware enough, are able to see what's happened through the rear view mirror with the context of living through the times you 're discussing. Listening to your presentation made me understand that there is a generation or two who has not experienced anything other than the current paradigms. Thank you for making it your mission to show what has been and is still going on. As the course progresses I imagine we will be reviewing new (or maybe old ;-) possibilities. I'm so enjoying being in the classroom again 🙂
I have 11 years on you, and while my 50 yo son and I agree that things have changed, the changes have been harder on him than on me. He has his Masters, but feels it is a joke; he is now, and for the foreseeable future, a wage slave. But back in the 90's when he was in HS, it made sense; the only criteria used was salary potential.
This man has always been just an awesome humanitarian!
That graph about corporate profit margins really needs an update, not because the information you show is bad in any way, but to also show the insane price gouging corporations engaged in in 2020-2022 as demonstrated by the explosion in their profit margins, and I think it might tie nicely back in to your conversation regarding if it's okay for the genie to make people at the top richer and leave everyone else the same.
You don't have to buy from corporations.
@@youtubesucks1499oh we don't? Please elaborate. I know we can produce lots of our own stuff but how the heck are we supposed get gas to go to work?
@@barbaraolsem5150 Refineries?
Just saying.
@@barbaraolsem5150 Open your own oil co-op.
Great class, thank you, Prof! Explains so much about where we are as a country.
Mr. Reich, you are a brilliant teacher. Brilliant.
What a privilege being able to listen to your college lectures. Thank you for your wisdom and teaching. It helps me understand and think.
Thank you for your service!
This course should be taught in all schools across the country.
Wouldn't want my child to be taught communism Reich lies by withholding information I can name maney examples
Love that you share this with the world. Am a Berkeley grad...but by far seeing much more top tier on line content from MIT OCW...so well done.
Professor Reich, your salary would be in the millions if being a “star” were the only necessary justification. This was informative, thoroughly engrossing, and unforgettable.
I watched the 1st video in this series on a whim and now watched the 2nd. I find this fascinating and educational.
Thank you professor. Economics 101 disturbed me greatly back when I was in college as it was completely devoid of basic human behavior & psychology. It's good to hear being used.
I’m hooked on these lectures. Great lectures were one of the best parts of college.
Yes, thank you for letting us audit this class
Yes I’m loving this. I was a Bridgestone worker for 30 years. I know exactly what you were talking about. Probably the one in Desmoines.
It seems to me there is often an appeal to stakeholder morality from those most interested in a shareholder model. And thank you for publishing these lectures.
First Thank you Professor for making these lectures available to us. Wow I'm not even religious but its looking like money is the root of all evil or at least allows it to flourish.
Thank you, Prof. Reich. What I like about this parti:ular class, and perhaps the Class. overall, it the empwowerment of the individual. I had never shopped at Walmart until I was fully handicapped, had to give up driving. So now I feel conflicted; not only do I shop there, but use delivery. For me, it's a matter of survival.I share, only to share that things are not as simple for some folks as they are for others. 😢
Thank you so much! I’m going to watch with my 28 year old daughter! ❤
Never thought performance based pay was at the root of todays wealth gap, makes perfect sense now. We have much to learn.
It isn't. There's only 500 S&P CEOs. Try adding up their earnings vs income earned overall.... It's a drop in the bucket.
He's just using that meaningless example to stoke anti-1% sentiment because that's his political bent, and he's not an economist... he's a lawyer and politician.
Automation and expansion of the workforce (both domestically and via outsourcing) are the main reasons for the increasing wealth gap.
More supply of workers without an increase of demand = lower relative wages.
@@steviejay9245that's wrong. We're told there's a shortage of workers right now, July 2024. So your point is moot. He doesn't hate the top 1 percenters he's simply stating truthfully that they need to pay their fair share. Also when they get tax breaks they don't use that money to hire more workers or raise wages of current employees (trickle down) they use it to buy up their own stock so they can manipulate the true value of their business.
Plus you can't have an increase in demand if your customers can't afford your products.
Wow! Great content and witty, sharp delivery. Very very compelling and informative.
Thank you for sharing your insights and vast understanding on this important subject that affects us all. I feel I have learned a great deal from your lessons.
Thanks for this great series. Its very generous to share this true wealth
what a class, the beginning to end....
Makes me rethink the story about CEOs that gives up their salary to help their workers during hard times.
It also confirms more about the CEOs that didn't even bother to do so.
The Polar Fleece guy! One of my all time heroes!
@@susanelizabeth2222 Aaron Feuerstein? He may be thought of as a poor businessman by a certain class of people, but I'd say he was a man of rare principles. A real mensch, as they say. He tried like heck to save the company, and failed in the end. But what he did (or at least tried to do) for his people was almost unheard of, and a great triumph of humanity (at least in the context of the business world). More people should know about his integrity, because we need all the examples we can get.
Incredible. Thank you so much for this 🙏
This is the best lecture in economics I ever attended - practical and reflect the real economics.
Really understand the economic and instead dry theorems, without connection to real econ.
Thank you prof. Reich for your clean demonstration of the political economy and the roll of government.
Great lecture. I really love how he links how political shapes the market and gives such a solid case for it.
this tickles my brain and i love it! thanks for sharing your lectures!
This is the fight going on recently in congress over investments and ESG.. it's stakeholder capitalism vs shareholder capitalism
Incredible, I stambled upon this. I hope as much people as possible follow those lectures!
Thank you Professor Reich for making your lectures available. I am curious to hear your views on ESG investments as it relates to this course, and what impact it will have on the purpose of the corporation. Thank you.
ESG is a fraud masquerading as caring when really it has control from the top written all over it. It attends to the needs of the WEF elites more than communities from the grass roots ground up.
So excellent, Robert, thank you so much for sharing this course. Just a thought about the 80s-90s: cocaine use among CEOs, athletes, movie stars, was strong during that time and in my opinion contributed to their narcissistic wild demands for excessive pay without regard to consequences, and maybe contributed to their indifference to workers, communities, etc. in the decisions they made to get rid of the "bloat," in their corporate raiding. They were flying high on their own perceived power.
A movie I found disturbing, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” where a single parent “works hard” selling worthless stocks (unscrupulous careless sales of stocks of unknowable future), pressuring purchasers in boiler-room operations, “raises a good-kid despite all odds.” Brrr. I didn’t read the book which may have indicate the father’s heart felt guilty, rather than the film which only indicates the Will Smith character as sincere, admirable and heroic. Bletch. No conscience for the potential wreckage where the-odds are low what he “worked” to sell was worth more than spit. Fuelled by cocaine (the production, the circa 1980s naive storyline, the actor).
Remember too that people with psychopathic and sociopath tendencies are also the ones that are motivated the most quite often to climb the ladder by doing horrible things to other people and stepping over them. They seek power and once they have power they implement these things which doesn't help. Also all of these issues are allowed because govt and corporations play off of each other to the expense of the average person typically since there are revolving doors with govt and corps too. Then larger scale or even global scale makes it worse as human beings have a tendency to not feel as much when they cannot see or do not know who they are hurting with their choices. That is why people have road rage that is worse than bumping into another human on the street, because the human eye contact and interaction triggers are not initiated psychologically, so it is more like an inanimate object or number to these CEOs than living, breathing humans beings.
wow! such an eye-opener on world economics.
Thank you o much for sharing your insight.
This guy is a fake economist. What you've learned here does not pertain to reality.
Thank you, Professor Reich.
God bless you for sharing this with us!
I'd like to add to the discussion regarding how "we are all implicated in this system" (online retail vs storefront). A valid point, as i see it, is that some consumers, especially in rural areas and closed-off neighborhoods, have little choice but to go to large on-line retailers or big-box stores for goods. For example, in my small town in rural South Dakota there used to be small manufacturing, small implement/agricultural businesses, a pharamacy, a grocery store, etc. However, because of structural issues, policy, and other pressures, these businesses and industries no longer exist here. So, as a consumer, I may have to drive 60 miles (this is much closer than many folks in rural America may have to travel) to the nearest city to get groceries and other goods and services I want and need. Thus, the tension between consumer belief and consumer choice (do i seek the cheapest deal on Amazon or do I put money back into my community by supporting small businesses) is not exactly a fair supposition for all Americans.
The unfortunate reality is that I no longer even have the choice to buy some goods or services locally. Of course, the argument could be made that this is always the case: geographic location, market competition, supply/demand, etc. are always drivers of local economies. Still, I would counter, the demand/need for goods and services here has not changed. What has changed is ability of massive corporations, through their accrued wealth and power, to supply goods and services at rates and values well below what a small business can. Essentially, they're not here because they cannot compete with big money.
This trend is present in every industry in America. The mantra that many farmers are familiar with is "get big, or get out." The unfortunate side effect is consolidation of wealth, making it harder and harder for small farmers to compete. Market pressures make expenses go up significantly, extreme competition for limited land resources drive land prices through the roof, etc. It's no mystery where I live, that is impossible to become a farmer today without extreme risk (large sums of borrowed money; aka, debt), wealthy benefactors/investors, or intergenerational transfer of wealth/lan. In fact, many small farmers do not have enough equity to "get big" even if they want to (they can't borrow the money to buy the land to grow their business). Small farmers are then driven to find efficiencies through technologies, etc. Then, efficiency leads to more over-production, which drives down commodity prices, which impacts their bottom line. Thus, they go bankrupt and the big corporations benefit through economies of scale.
As I see it, within agriculture, we are headed towards a system where a few, very wealthy corporations will own all the land and means of production on that land, and "farmers" will either become employees, or, maybe, the land they used to own will be leased back to them on limited contracts. What i am describing is, in essence, serfdom (this thing is going medieval ;)).
The system that we have today is so deeply flawed, yet it has been sown into every fabic of our existence. These are incredibly complicated issues that will require a tremendous amount of careful, thoughtful consideration to even begin fixing. I wish it could be as simple as "eat the rich," but what would happen to retirement funds and 401k's, etc. Without careful implementation of good policy the entire economy may collapse in a manner that would make the great depression look like the good ol' days.
I'm very happy this class is available to the masses, and grateful that students are learning about all of this, but, again, this stuff requires a tremendous amount of deep, critical thinking if we are to ever have a chance of correcting course. Sorry for being so long-winded. I love thinking about all of this and wish I could be in this classroom and engage in discussions with these young people who will be the ones having to wrestle with incredibly challenging issues in the rapidly approaching future (and I'm not sure I like the way it's likely to shape-out). Cheers
Thank you so much for your lectures. Excellent work!!
I’m so grateful that I can learn from you!
As a small business person myself, (and a psychology major - one of my degrees) I have observed this behavior of saying and doing two different things. Even small business owners do not always support each other financially. I am happy to say that I always made a conscience effort to buy small. My first business was a photo studio for about 20 years. Once you're an owner you see things from a different perspective. That's when I always bought as local as possible. I can say that the local community also had poor wages. Florida income is skewed because of the high and low income brackets. It was true that many people might want to pay but didn't. Some could but still didn't. It's an interesting behavior to "vote" with your dollars for something we don't want?
His question needed better form. Shopping on line can be to purchase from small businesses, can be because businesses near you don't have the item.
@@bcase5328 that is true. Agreed. I was shocked to find out the percentage Amazon takes for online purchases. I don't know how a small retail can make enough to stay in business at that % point.
Tragedy of the commons.
I’m in my 50’s and the word “economy” used to mean something to me. If the economy was “strong,” it was good news for everyone. These days, when I here the word, “economy,” it means nothing to me. It has no relevancy to me. If the economy is strong, I get no benefit. So, I think to myself, when I hear that word, “Who’s economy???”
Edited to add: Maybe this is why when the news media speaks of the GDP and economy, it kinda pisses me off. Not only is it a valuable waste of airtime that only has relevancy to the 1%, but it is like rubbing dirt in the faces of those trying to improve their situation in a system that does NOT honor social compacts, except in extremely rare cases which they love to crow from the rooftops.
@Pallasathena-hv4kp I hear you loud and clear. I recall the "K-shaped recovery" that was occasionally mentioned in the media after the worst of the COVID economy. That made the situation quite visible, but eventually I guess they decided it wasn't worth talking about.
The wealthy pay for legislation. The non-wealthy only have one viable alternative (and it's not voting, though we should certainly vote). Organization. That's the cure for our nationwide division, the cure for stagnating or barely increasing wages, the only way for the working people to hold our government to the old principle of "by the people, for the people", and to hold our employers to basic standards of humanity and fairness. But I know that organization (or unionization, if you're okay with that word) is not easy, particularly in "Right to Work" states.
I think things will get better as the nation matures, but maybe not in our lifetimes, sadly.
Nonsense if you look at the debt clock you will see that unskilled workers outnumber skilled workers which explains the income gap don't you think skilled workers should have more than unskilled workers should not a doctor make more than a fast food worker
If you want to understand why so many are opposed to and even hostile toward liberal arts education , look no furthur than this video. Robert Reich is the professor your parents warned you about, exposing the youth to antiquated ideas such as "moral philosophy" and "economic rent" from dangerous radicals like Adam Smith and David Richardo. This can only lead our youth to consider the ideas of the most dangerous of them all, Karl Marx.
I speak from experience. As a student in the 1960s, an education funded with our precious tax dollars, I encountered these types of professors and they turned me into a Communist. In the interveing years I came to my senses and am now a dedicated follower of Bernie Sanders and Democratic Socialism.
Then you are a thief of the worst kind unless you pay half your income to the government to pay for the handouts he wants we have a debt so big it defies belief because of democrat handouts our children will inherit a bankrupt shell of a nation because you won't pay enough taxes to support all the handouts he wants why is that
These are all so great! Thank you for making your classes available online for all to access. It’s so important ❤. You’re a gem!!
By the logic that links the CEO wages to stock prices shouldn't all employee wages be linked to the stock price?
If employees share in the profits should they not also share in the loss
@@fritzforsthoefel8031 As should the CEO.
@@fritzforsthoefel8031They would if everybody was compensated in stock.
❤❤❤Love your stuff!❤❤❤Thank you!❤❤❤Old and gray but still learning 🎉🎉🎉
Wondering teacher, great personality!
Another aspect of the consumerist, rather than citizen, mindset is the appeal to convenience. Many people shop online (and use self checkout) because it's presumably more convenient than shopping in person. Of course, it becomes a cycle, because large chains have offered fewer of their offerings in their retail establishments, forcing customers to go online to access them, and on and on. Using self checkout is even more of a situation, as it's often not as convenient and timesaving for customers as many want to think--but it sure hoovers up more profits to the corporations installing them. Of course, many retailers are also making it more difficult to shop in person without using self checkout, so the monetarily extractive cycle continues.
I am enjoying your class. Love your clarification that the market and government are part of the same cloth and that market results occur within the structure of government policy. Your stock market chart does indeed appear to "explode" and correlate with the rise of CEO pay. However, If you plot a stock market series with reinvested dividends and adjusted for inflation on a logarithmic scale the trend the last 20 or 40 years is quite ordinary and consistent with the hundred preceding years. The rise in CEO pay may be better explained by the drop in the top tax rates and brackets for both ordinary income and capital gains. Back when taking an additional few million in pay would have mostly gone to personal taxes CEOs were more likely to feed ego by building strong companies, rather than pulling so much personal income out.
This is so very interesting and exciting! Thank you Mr. Reich!
18:15 Another Value Check is when at home at no cost to the Consumer Citizen (instead, possible monetary savings) do you conscientiously CONSERVE WATER, ie not let it go down the drain when brushing teeth; and turn off lights when exiting a room- that’s a real test IMHO. The little things add up and are so easy to do, if we truly care❤❤❤
They started drilling that to us in the mid and late 1970s in elementary school and repeated the message several times….. and I’m glad they diid as it helped me do the right thing and get yelled at less from parents lol
I really liked the $1000 game. Neither A nor B get anything unless B agrees to A's offer. A is dependant on B.
But, as A is offered the money, it's easy for A to think it is their money - it's easy to forget that they can only access that money if B says yes. It's easy not to see the value B brings to the interaction.
A can easily think anything they give B is a bonus to B. This has the potential to devalue the role of B.
It really shows the social contract. We are dependant on eachother.
This man is a very gifted teacher.
Thank you for allowing access to your lectures!
You mean I don’t have to take out an indentured servitude contract to access higher education in the DSA? (Divided States of America)? Take that USC!
You were in the room where it happened! You warned them! What other atrocities are overlooked in the name of “competition”?
I’m so excited to be watching this. Can’t wait for the next book!
An example of this is what happened to the airline industry. Remember TWA PAN AM Eastern and Continental
Another great lecture. 👍
I watch this & dread the next election!! :( Thanks for sharing this class. It's only become worse over the past 5 years since this course was taught. SO appreciate this!!
Thank you 🙏
I love the (justified) uproar in the hall at 31:08.
Berkeley alone has 1500 faculty, add that up.. football is a proven money maker
Thank you so much for posting this Professor Reich!
This was a great lecture, but if anyone interested in learning how free-market capitalism has created historic wealth and income inequality, please do read his book on "Saving Capitalism: For the Many, not the Few." Indeed. It talks of how 1945 - 1970, was the golden age of capitalism - since it was heavily regulated, and wealth and income was shared broadly, not narrowly. Corporations and free enterprise had to contend with countervailing power of collective bargaining power of trade unions, and wages and productivity were analogous, when adjusted for inflation. It was not until the 1970s the capitalists and the interests of free enterprise (e.g. U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable) declared an onslaught. Lewis Powell wrote a corporate blueprint to use their lobbying prowess to organize the market rules in their favor. They started lobbying the courts, legislature, and administrative agencies to protect the profits of private corporations and industries. Neoliberalism was the forefront of justifying their endeavors, stating self-regulated markets without any government regulation or oversight was needed to make the economy grow in productivity and growth (otherwise known as trickle-down economics). During this period, more corporations had monopoly of power over intellectual property, they expanded their operations overseas, they started automating and cutting jobs, and only sought to protect the interest of their shareholders. Public good programs were gutted, and more services that were formerly public went towards privatization. It has created socioeconomic disparities and stratified social order that puts more people at disadvantage towards mobility. These corporations felt no moral and civic duty to protect the interests of the American people - instead they would prioritize their business and operation, along with their shareholders. More business interest tried to reduce the power and scope of federal government, and find ways to allow unrestricted markets to flourish. They opposed Keynesian economics, or expansionary fiscal policy (in other words, government subsidies that may potentially help the working and middle class) - and were strong proponents of neoliberalism.Now we have unfettered capitalism that has devastated the middle and working class from living well. Please also read "Consequences of Capitalism" by Noam Chomsky as well. Republicans and regressives have always purported that America is a meritocracy, and have always espoused the idea that self-regulated markets are efficient in allocating and distributing resources, income, and wealth. They have repudiated welfare states and social safety nets, using the Malthusian argument - stating that the poor deserve to be poor, and redistributive policies will be abused and working class people are responsible for their own poverty. Please be better informed. We're seeing the iron law of oligarchy unfold in our very legislatures, courts, and administrative agencies.
Professor Reich is an awesome lecturer and political analyst. I have never been his student, but I've watched all his lectures, read all his books, and seen all his interviews. He's fighting for the collective good, and he is fighting for us to look towards civic virtue. This is a collective action problem - and we must build coalitions in response to the rising inequality that has given elite plutocrats a system-built advantage. Thank you Professor, I really wish I attended your lectures as a student- but UC Berkeley was too expensive for me! I'm glad you published your lectures and books!
Very sobering, and very revealing. I retired last year at age 70, and despite not doing too badly, I had sensed that something (vibe, attitude, economic structure, etc) had shifted during my lifetime. In 1990s I was too busy raising several children after a divorce, and scrambling to keep it all together, to figure out details, but - pow! This comes close to revelation! I will share this lecture, as well as the link to the TH-cam channel, with my adult children and friends. Combined mental energy, information, and effort are needed here, not just now but going forward. Thank you!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS INFORMATION....😮😮😮
Great talk!!!! I do want to add that I buy more online because my local stores don't have it. Since so many people shop online, stores stock less in the stores, especially drug stores. Also, how else can I book a flight? I'm only aware of doing it online. Thanks so much!!
Brilliant lecturing series. Lovely to see a room of young folks engaged with such high quality information and thinking. Thank you for sharing with the world.
I watched your documentary on capitalism sir. It was quite informative.
It boils down to MORALITY vs PROFITABILITY.
I always thought it was the Reagan administration that increased CEO compensation so dramatically through stock options. This was a major revelation for me.
So much goes on that the public is not made aware of.
Thanks for the tale of Investors, inflatestors & infestors!
I learned a lot, thank you!
-25:44 struck a tear from me
I don't know if linking compensation to performance is a good idea or a bad idea, but I do know that buying back stock to artificially inflate the price is not performance.
I like the questions to the audience. I have been asking these questions to my co-workers for years. Also the following....Should wages be related to the Cost of living or Quality of life? Does Anti-Trust Laws in America Capitalism support or destroy democracy?
Thankyou! I appreciate how you explain this in simple terms. I am terrified for the USA if Trump gets in and begin to change laws even more by Republicans.
I am Canadian and understand so much better why so much foreign businessis here and how we will also loose. I am so glad I am 73!
THANK YOU!
1:11 to what degree do we attribute the production gains on automation and Tech and Intellectual property ?
Although I want to shop locally, care about sustainable products, that the workers who made, transported etc. make a decent living, I have a pretty much fixed income and so have to choose price over other things. So it's a tough call when you are struggling financially.
Awesome!
By first thought in this roll playing business model was " you mentioned the limitations on the tax write offs for a CEO but have not addressed tax write write offs when it regarding everyday workers" then toward the end when talking about the competition with the Japanese automotive industry...... Japan has universal healthcare! That alone is comparing apples to oranges with economy! Healthcare plays such a huge roll that comparing the U.S. to any other country that offers universal healthcare is comparing apples to oranges!
In the late 70s, in an economics class (the economists we read where John Kenneth Galbraith and Milton Friedman) the stat I remember was 20% of the people have 80% of the 'goods'.
At 12:35 if is interesting that there is no choice but to shop online for some things as Prof Reich pointed out. Also if you are needing, not seeking but needing, a bargain, small shops are not in a position to give them to you. The problem is that the large corporations can well afford to pay well and give steady regular hours but they do not have to, because they know at the moment you are stuck with them without a viable alternative.
a 5 star lecture, a must see - what is the real solution? consumers or the majority of the public must be educated to support the human way of life, rather than the material way of life, a far lower realm, a realm that is fundamentally without feeling :) the human way of life must stand up to the material way of life, and not be influenced by it. if consumers would support, by their buying conduct, the human way of life, and in that process feel good about paying more for products, and being willing to make the physical effort to support local businesses, then society would have the basis for thwarting the movement toward the inhuman spiral that comes from giving in to the material realm - yes? :)
Before watching the answer to what happened to cause wealth inequality is one word. Reaganomics.
The Reagan administration also closed most of the large mental hospitals with the goal of "returning the patients to the community." They've been returned to the community and now they're homeless, living on the streets.
NAFTA...under Clinton.
I wish I was in the audience. I don't understand why nobody in the class said that the company is not really looking for the best it is always looking for the people who will benefit that company. Those type of companies just want someone who is going to follow their status quo which is profit over anything else.
@17:20 - none of those three reasons….. But instead, safety. Crime in the Bay Area…. and some of us can’t go shopping like at 10:00 AM on a weekday or bring friends for safety . Or don’t wanna deal with the road ragers…Or vandals breaking into our car - let alone being followed or potentially robbed if we’re doing it after dark and alone. I would be happy to make small donations to my favorite stores in town to help them stay open however .
"To make to points, number one, nobody is a villain here. I'm not saying anybody has done anything wrong. Everybody is simply following incentives built into the system. And number two, let me emphasize, and explanation is not a justification!."
-- “The Investor's View” 53:33 by UC Berkeley Professor Reich
17:29 I'd like to add one, how do i know the increased price will fix those issues? The answer i came to is that i really can't.
1:32:12 Regan Ruined Everything
Surprised Robert didn't talk about the rise of compensation consultants and the ludicrous desire to hire 'only the best' (whatever that is). Consultants rose in prominence in the '80/'90s - they convinced BODs to approve ludicrous salaries/perks based on need to 'be competitive'. 'We can't pay less than average salaries if we want superior managers'. So what happened? Everyone decided that they needed to make sure their 'superior' managers got higher than average salaries, so they paid above average. Guess what happened when everyone decided to pay above average? Conveniently, the average had to go up - and so we ended up in an 'above average' race. So 20-30x salaries in the 60s/70s quickly zoomed to 350x today. Did managers suddenly get 10-15x scarcer? 10-15x better? Nope. The exact opposite happened with the huge explosion in B-school grads in the last 40 years. It's vastly different than a handful of movie stars or a few hundred professional athletes (who have very short careers vs managers), so conflating them with 'stars' is ridiculous.
Your lectures should be given in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is not that far removed from the US. Here, too, the welfare state has been phased out and liberalised. All kinds of government tasks have been marketed, as a result of which a great deal of knowledge has disappeared from the executive organizations of the government. Knowledge must be purchased and that costs the government a lot of money / tax money! The government's dependence on market parties has only grown. The market dictates, not the government. This applies to all areas in which the government acts. In the Netherlands we had stakeholder capitalism (the Rhineland model) aimed at the longer term and growth of the company, now only shareholder capitalism, aimed at the short term and the profit of the shareholder. The Netherlands is currently experiencing all kinds of policy crises, in the field of health care, the climate, pensions, etc. and they all have to do with the privatization of government tasks and the resulting loss of knowledge. Unfortunately, the political discussion is not about that. The voters/citizens are ignorant and think that what matters is which party rules or which politician becomes the prime minister of the Netherlands. Citizens are not told that many of the government's problems can be traced back to this neoliberal thinking of less government and more market forces.
What I find missing in this discussion is the customers of the company. It seems safe to assume that any public company either make products to sell or services to sell. Why is the major responsibility to maximize shareholder returns? Seems to me the major concern should be to ensure the company keeps and increases their customer base and only then try to maximize shareholder returns.
That is what a CEO does expand the customer base so the corperation can make a profit
11:00 Like small shops and bookstores? Amoeba Records, Shakespeare & Co., Cody's Books ....how many great Berkeley shops are gone forever? Telegraph is hardly worth a stroll anymore.
What about city grants to subsidize stores (specifically bookstores) with positive externalities?
And not just the pubkic sectors but the political. Sector and how the Ritch influence politics.
@24:00 interesting to note the slide comparing top earning baseball stars to CEOs, none of the 3 modern era stars ever won a championship with their team. They were all excellent players but still not worth investment in terms of winning.
The whole "our ONLY goal is to maximize shareholder return" bit has always struck me as being morally disgusting and downright evil. We should change it.
Some high-tech companies that ignore this and plan decades ahead instead of for the next quarter have done spectacularly well.
The shareholders are the owners of which maney pensions are invested in corperations if the corperation loses taxes revenue workers lose there jobs and pensions invested in the corperation lose money
@43:00 To @49:10 So are we actually being given names of the people who created the 1%?
Your 1000 dollar experiment was game theory. Not just economic, political, but also sociological