Ever go to a Pizza Party, only to find there are not enough "slices" to go around? If only the hosts had order "extra large" Pies, instead of those mediums, then everyone might have gotten a slice.
Well the Economic Pie operates much the same way: the more the Opportunity, the more People go home full and and happy. And happy people are people who tend to spend their paychecks.
And it is the 'spending of money' that makes the Economy go round, and makes it (Opportunities) grow for everyone. too. They called this the Multiplier Effect in the college Econ courses I took, and it's kind of important, like fundamentally important. (Assuming you want Economies to grow, organically, like the yeast rising in a Pizza crust.) This effect is sometimes referred to as demand-side stimulus, too.
There is a competing theory (supply-siders) that asserts that somehow the Wealthy hoarding their Money will "Create Jobs" -- through the occasional "spilling over" of their full cups, into the general saucer of society. Yet somehow after decades of waiting for the that "sloshing over" of these new jobs from the Wealthy sector, that economic myth seems to have been mostly debunked.
Real Life has a way of defanging the best of Wealth-capturing, off-shoring fables.
Here's another Myth that needs to join the dust-bin of Economic Illiteracy -- that of the negative effect that the gainfully employing Immigrants, will have on that US Pizza party ...
Immigration Reform 2013: 5 Common Myths, Debunked
by Paul Stern, policymic.com -- Oct. 18, 2013
[...]
1. They Take Our Jobs
Certainly the most common and also erroneous myth about immigrants is that they negatively affect the employment of native-born Americans. Instead, studies by experts at the American Enterprise Institute suggest that immigrants have no effect on native jobs. A study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) actually shows a positive correlation between higher levels of immigrants and job growth. The CAP study also encourages legalization and the granting of citizenship to undocumented immigrants, which in their estimates could result in over 150,000 jobs per year. It is certainly easy to blame immigrants for jobless Americans, but all studies show that immigrants do not take slices from the pie; they in fact make it bigger.
Legal status alone would lead to the creation of 121,000 extra jobs annually over the next 10 years, they found. Getting citizenship within five years would increase that to 159,000 jobs per year. And receiving both legal status and citizenship this year would create an extra 203,000 jobs annually.
[...]
If the party hosts passed the hat for donations,
they could buy more pizza,
not less. And the happily working guests are the ones most likely to kick into that "economic stimulus" hat. (ie. part with their walking-around-money, for the occasional impulse buy.).
And THAT is what really keeps the wheels of the Economy turning ... People buying stuff. The more people, the better ... the faster the Multiplier Effect goes.
Let the Pie-hoarding myth-busting continue ... since the Pizza Party, otherwise known as our 'gang-busters' Economy, is still in full-swing:
Left and Right Agree: Immigrants Don't Take American Jobs
by Niraj Chokshi, nationaljournal.com -- March 22, 2013
[...]
Most economists don't find immigrants driving down wages or jobs, the Brookings Institution's Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney wrote in May. In fact, "on average, immigrant workers increase the opportunities and incomes of Americans," they write. Foreign-born workers don't affect the employment rate positively or negatively, according to a 2011 analysis from the conservative American Enterprise Institute. And a study released Wednesday by the liberal Center for American Progress suggests that granting legal status to undocumented workers might even create jobs.
[...]
The logic behind the gains is simple. Legalization and citizenship allow the undocumented to be more productive and earn higher wages. The increased earnings can then be spent on food, clothing, housing, and other purchases. "That spending, in turn, will stimulate demand in the economy for more products and services, which creates jobs and expands the economy," the authors write. [...]
Isn't the effect of 'dough-rising-yeast' something? aka.
Working People spend much more, than Poor Unemployed people ever do. It's only common sense. It's WHY people work, so they can spend their pay ...
And most people would rather be a productive worker, if only given the opportunities to do so. Most people would rather get their 'fair share' of Pie, than have to survive on only the crumbs.
This seems to be one idea that the Wealth Hoarders, just can't seem to fathom: Most 'Poor people' actually want to work. From the smallest of seeds, can grow some truly awesome things ... See Microsoft, see Google, see the average US small business. Opportunity is always looking for fertile ground, in which to grow. Even the most fledgling of opportunity-seekers.
Growing the Economy by Reducing Inequality
by Matt Bruenig, demos.org -- July 26, 2013
[...]
The interesting question is not whether inequality reduction can grow the economy in the short-term as demand-side stimulus, but whether it can grow the economy in the long-term on the supply-side. There is good reason to think that it can.
The most obvious way reducing inequality can have supply-side effects is via human capital deepening. Being poor is a terrible way to be if you are trying to learn things, gain more skills, and improve your own productive potential. Making people less poor should make it easier for them to increase their own human capital through education and training, and thereby improve the overall productive capacity of the labor force. All else equal, a more productive labor force should mean more growth.
[...]
But who knows where a "productive capable labor force" might eventually lead? Pretty soon all those able-employees might want better wages and benefits. Pretty soon they might want to become home owners
{gasp!} and actually want to send their kids to college too.
To chase that promise of a "better life" that America is so famous for ...
{Oh the Humanity!}
This is what scares the Wealth Hoarders (supply-siders) the most -- an Economy where Everyone actually has Equal Opportunity to get ahead and prosper. An Economy where their heaping spill-over share, might somehow get more equitably distributed. The Hoarders will fight tooth and nail to ensure, their donations to the general Pizza Fund, remains as small as it can possibly be. Such is the curse of the Hoarder -- they can't see beyond their only net worth, most of the time.
Afterall, if Everyone starts hosting Pizza Parties, pretty soon "economic desperation" will become a thing of the past. And without that, their wealth-tilting leverage over the common worker, will someday fade into history, too ... {Oh the Life-style changes!}
That is why they are "Job Creators" in name only. That is why they keep their 'full cups' close to the vest. If they actually had to worry about "Growing the Pie" for Everybody, in their small-world minds, that would ultimately mean "less Pie for them."
And in the Hoarders world view, Less is not More -- only MORE is more. Afterall, SOMEONE needs to own the Supply ... "sharing" is for children ...
[ File: Pizza.jpeg -- From Wikimedia Commons ]
Sometimes it seems the Wealthy, missed those Kindergarten lessons about "how sharing is a good thing" ... that or they learned the wrong (exploitative) lessons from them?
The Wealthy really need to take a refresher course in Pizza Economics, and stop fretting over crumbs and the cost per slice -- and for once, just have some fun, with all their hard-won lifetime of gains.
Afterall, it's not really "a Party," until THEY show up ... is it not? (Or so we've all be told.)
Hey Jobs Creators, shouldn't there really be, enough slices to go around for all? ... in a healthy, growing Economy that is; one that you Owner-class guys, have STILL somehow failed to deliver?
Fair is only Fair. Assuming we, as a Nation, still do aspire to have Equal Opportunity for ALL ... ?