Very good advice for California now—and for future congressional majority leaders and speakers and presidents who might represent the large majorities of American voters who want these problems addressed sensibly and substantially:
Heather Boushey: Equitable Growth CEO's Written Testimony at California Future of Work Commission: "The monopoly power problem... exacerbates inequality, contributes to wage stagnation, limits entrepreneurship, increases the cost of living, and stifles innovation.... Industry concentration and declining economic dynamism reduces wages by limiting workers’ employment options and opportunities for advancement, and allows firms to use their increasing power to squeeze worker compensation in favor of greater profits. Workplace fissuring, through the rise of independent contractors, franchisors, and contingent hiring, prevents workers from accessing career ladders, matching into the jobs they are best suited for, and gaining sufficient bargaining power to unlock wage increases. Persistent historical disparities such as wage discrimination and social norms reinforce occupational segregation into jobs that don’t pay well enough and offer little room for advancement. Yet policymaking over the past several decades has been moving in the wrong direction. Specifically: Antitrust law now allows firms to accrue and abuse monopoly power, not just over consumers but also in many cases over workers. Successive rounds of tax cuts, including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and several tax cuts under the George W. Bush administration, have lowered the progressivity of the tax code and greatly decreased taxes on wealth, capital, inheritances, and corporate profits. Outdated labor law provides insufficient protection of workers and has facilitated the long decline of unions, traditionally the most vocal and ardent advocates for the middle class. We have an opportunity right now to take a step back to look at the scale and scope of the problems and develop real solutions...
#noted #2019-10-11
