** FRANKS COMMENT-- INFLATION**

[Frankn]

** FRANK'S COMMENT-- INFLATION**

Prices keep going up, WHY?
Well here's my theory and the way to stop it.
It starts with manufactures coming out with a new update on there product. Instead of just changing it, they bill it as a new and higher priced item. This puts extra money in there pockets at the consumer expense. Workers see there buying power dropping and demand raises. The raises cut out the excess profit to the manufacturer so another 'new' product appears at a higher price and the cycle continues.

OK, here's the fix.
A certain amount of the profits of a manufacturer should be earmarked to be distributed as pay to the workers. There would no longer be a reason for the manufacturer to raise the price beyond cost + fair profit because it would only be distributed to the workers. Inflation would be stopped. Frank

PS: Hay, I know this would only work in a capitalistic systen and not a dictatorship type of system.

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

i agree, but we are a union of two compared to a tidal wave of greed.

My solution? I stopped buying any more than the basics I need...

 

[DizzyDigger]

OK, here's the fix.
A certain amount of the profits of a manufacturer should be earmarked to be distributed as pay to the workers. There would no longer be a reason for the manufacturer to raise the price beyond cost + fair profit because it would only be distributed to the workers. Inflation would be stopped. FrankView attachment 1096415

PS: Hay, I know this would only work in a capitalistic system and not a dictatorship type of system.

That wouldn't be "capitalistic" at all, but more along the lines of Socialism.
The difference being that "The State" would confiscate the profit that should
be going to the workers.

The other issue is that companies use that extra profit to build new plants
and develop new products, and to re-pay the investors who spent the money
to build the company in the first place. If I design the product, build a prototype
that functions as promised, pay for building the manufacturing plant,
hire the employees and then operate MY company, I am entitled to whatever
profit I can earn.

If the profit was there, I would pay a better than average wage so I could
hire the more qualified people.

The workers have neither designed the product, built the factory
or paid for the raw materials...they are simply assembling a product
as designed.

They are due wages for their time invested, agreed, but did they invest
their money in all of the groundwork required to bring that product to
market?

NO.

I took the risk, I get the rewards.

 

[texasred777]

Well, here's an example of some of the ways companies 'rip off' the public. I worked for an oil distributor whose cousin worked in the plant that made the oil for that company. He was in charge of formulating the oils. I won't name the oil company. One day the cousin was visiting. He came to the warehouse and explained that the 'new' oil we were getting for the last month or so was the same exact oil, but was renamed and packaged in different looking containers. Along with the 'new' came a 15% increase in the price. I guess it cost that much to change the name and packaging? lol

 

[Mad Machinist]

The problem here is many fold. Both the "big companies" and the work force are to blame for where we are at. I'll try and illustrate it here.

For Christmas, my wife bought me a bandsaw and a small drill press from Harbor Freight. Now before anyone starts yelling about buying American, listen.

When NAFTA was brought into existence, I made a prediction that the Chinese would take awhile to achieve passable quality and when that happened we would be in deep doo doo. Well that has come to pass. At work, I use a $50,000+ bandsaw. Well, the $200 dollar bandsaw that was bought for me has damn near the same cut quality as the big saw I use at work. It took me 20 minutes with a machinist's square to get the little Harbor Freight saw cutting straight and square.

A lot of the big companies ran to China in the name of profit from cheap labor wages. In the beginning the products were absolute junk. They didn't last long so one had to constantly replace them, leading to more profits for the companies. As this progressed, many skills were lost by the American workers due to the use of CNC machines to replace the skilled workers with low cost operators who basically knew nothing about the machines or products they were making other than put the piece in the machine and push the green button.

So here we are now, with workers crying about their wages being low and companies used to big profits. With wages in China approaching what American workers used to be paid, we are in a catch 22 situation. The profit margins are shrinking and there is very little skilled labor left in this country. So what to do?

What most people don't realize is that Henry Ford's production line concept has been taken to a whole new level by the Chinese. And has been heavily exploited by the companies in this country. Use unskilled labor with each doing a small unskilled part of the production and you keep wages low. No one knows the whole process but a very few.

Unskilled labor DOES NOT deserve skilled labor wages, period. An example of this was the guy from GM who was making $45 an hour to drive around on a forklift and pull parts from a shelf. Sorry, that guy DOES NOT deserve those kind of wages no matter how long he was there. Want to make more money? Pick up a few more skills.

And trying to make a company pay more wages to unskilled labor is one of the reasons we are where we are at today. Instead of making people better themselves to earn a better wage and standard of living, the "greedy big companies" are blamed. If one does not want to better themselves, then they have no one to blame but them selves for their station in life. They are the only ones who can change it. Blaming someone else for their station in life simply shows a lack of self worth and sheer laziness. Giving people like this a "handout" of higher wages for ANY reason simply leads to a sense of entitlement.

And this is only going ot get worse as time goes on unless something changes.

 

[Mad Machinist]

I have to apologize to everyone here. But this is a subject that royally p****s me off. If your tired of working for the man, then use the wealth of information that is the Internet and become the man. With everything available, there are no more excuses except for pure laziness and an entitlement mentality.

 

[Frankn]

That wouldn't be "capitalistic" at all, but more along the lines of Socialism.
The difference being that "The State" would confiscate the profit that should
be going to the workers.

The other issue is that companies use that extra profit to build new plants
and develop new products, and to re-pay the investors who spent the money
to build the company in the first place. If I design the product, build a prototype
that functions as promised, pay for building the manufacturing plant,
hire the employees and then operate MY company, I am entitled to whatever
profit I can earn.

If the profit was there, I would pay a better than average wage so I could
hire the more qualified people.

The workers have neither designed the product, built the factory
or paid for the raw materials...they are simply assembling a product
as designed.

They are due wages for their time invested, agreed, but did they invest
their money in all of the groundwork required to bring that product to
market?

NO.

I took the risk, I get the rewards.

The" STATE" has nothing to do with this system except the normal taxing they do now.
As far as your concern about recovering for the "groundwork" , you still get that. It is subtracted from the income before the Profit is figured out.
What I am talking about is keeping the ratio the same between profit and pay.
If the cost of living goes up, the pay also goes up and you have inflation.
Under the method I described, retail cost and wages would would basically stay the same. Inflation would become a thing of the past and your future planing jest got simpler. You wouldn't go down hill when you retire. It has nothing to do with socialism. You still provide for yourself as in the past. Frank

 

[Frankn]

Well, here's an example of some of the ways companies 'rip off' the public. I worked for an oil distributor whose cousin worked in the plant that made the oil for that company. He was in charge of formulating the oils. I won't name the oil company. One day the cousin was visiting. He came to the warehouse and explained that the 'new' oil we were getting for the last month or so was the same exact oil, but was renamed and packaged in different looking containers. Along with the 'new' came a 15% increase in the price. I guess it cost that much to change the name and packaging? lol

You think that is bad? I was working on equipment in one company and saw there cost to sale ratio sheets. Almost made me sick. One item cost them $6.60 to produce and it sold for $660. No that's not a mistake!

Frank

 

[Frankn]

I have to apologize to everyone here. But this is a subject that royally p****s me off. If your tired of working for the man, then use the wealth of information that is the Internet and become the man. With everything available, there are no more excuses except for pure laziness and an entitlement mentality.

Well, what this thread was about was getting rid of inflation. Basically it is not about wages, but rather the constant raising of prices to make EXCESS profit. That excess profit is taken out of the money cycle that keeps capitalism running.

Basically, employees make something, they get paid, that money buys the products that are made, the cycle repeats. Now if excess profit is pulled out, the money wheel shrinks and the cycle slows. All that excess profit money sitting in the billionaire's bank account is what kills capitalism. Hay, you can only spend so much money before you die. Frank

 

[Mad Machinist]

Well, what this thread was about was getting rid of inflation. Basically it is not about wages, but rather the constant raising of prices to make EXCESS profit. That excess profit is taken out of the money cycle that keeps capitalism running.

Basically, employees make something, they get paid, that money buys the products that are made, the cycle repeats. Now if excess profit is pulled out, the money wheel shrinks and the cycle slows. All that excess profit money sitting in the billionaire's bank account is what kills capitalism. Hay, you can only spend so much money before you die. FrankView attachment 1097260
View attachment 1097261

You completely missed the point.

Inflation comes from the wages paid to employees. When people have more money to spend, inflation rises as the market is able to bear higher prices and 99% of the people out there live paycheck to paycheck. When people have money and demand, you have inflation. When people have no money and no demand, you have deflation. The price of fuel right now is the perfect example. You raise wages, in the name of "sharing", the demand for fuel and other products go up, so the price of fuel rises just as the price of the other products will go up. So the money just gets returned to the few who have it now and people just have the illusion of having more money since they have more stuff.

You say billionaires holding money kills capitalism? Well your dead wrong. Laziness and the entitlement mentality is what kills capitalism. You want to take money away from the "elite"? Start your own business so you can make the money and be the man. Plain and simple, that is capitalism.

Want to break the "excess profit cycle"? Start your own business providing the same quality at a lower price and you breakout of the cycle. When enough of people do the same thing, the cycle stops. Inflation and deflation stop also because when production is decentralized it becomes insulated from major market fluctuations due the fact that more people are employed and if a few companies go under, more will be started to take their place. No one will try to make "excess profit" due to the fact that they will lose business since they will basically price themselves out of the market.

Some call this the race to the bottom when it reality it's the race to stabilization.

 

[texasred777]

I can see both sides to these stories, but I can also see flaws in them. There are too many 'except for' instances. Too many times the whole story isn't known. I've worked for the 'man', and I've been the 'man'. I worked for a company that went under. Not because of prices, but because of mismanagement. The owner took more out of the company than the company was earning. Soon the company was unable to buy the products to carry on the business. When it folded I started my own business doing the same thing. I worked at it for 10 years. After that I was offered a 'deal'. Another larger company would buy my business and would hire me for an hourly wage that was consistent with the current market for that type of work. I worked there until I retired. It was great being able to go home after work and not worry about all the problems of running a business. Even working for someone else, I was still on a 24/7/365 call. Not too often, but at times it was quite hectic when several calls came in on weekends. But, you do what you have to do. At least it was time and a half, and sometimes 3 times regular pay.

 

[Mad Machinist]

texasred

Yea, nothing is certain and all too often too many things are unknown. Many think they know all aspects yet only know a very small part of them. I really wish something like Frankn's idea would work, but it won't. Without great reward, there is no great effort. And without great effort, there is only a slow downward spiral to complete failure.

When I starts my little mining endeavors 7 years ago, I never imagined it would get me to where I am at. My bank accounts tell me I got it right and I am considering retirement at 40. We started with nothing and we borrowed nothing. We quite literally built this from the ground up out of a scrap pile so I know it can be done.

We have sold most of our claims now and only have a few left to "play" on for "personal" reasons. Hey, the money was right, hence the retirement thoughts.

Like I said before, take the risk and start your own deal and break the cycle, or sit around and starve while waiting for the "man" to take care of you.

 

[texasred777]

That's the way I started on January 1, 1985, just myself, and old 1977 GMC pickup. After about 2 months of scrounging for money for parts, I went to a man I knew and borrowed $1200. I paid it back at $200 per month. From there, I worked for 10 years without employees. Occasionally I would need someone for a few hours. I had a nephew, my future son-in-law, and one or two others that I could pay 'contract wages' for the few hours I needed help. It wasn't easy.
The first 3 months, I charged $3 per hour less for my labor than the others. There were about 5 other competitors. Two of the companies were employing several workers, one had only two employees, and two had only one employee. At the end of the 10 years, I was charging the same as the other companies, but there were only 2 competitors left. One let his two employees go and started working in a different field of work. One company that had one employee folded because of money problems. One of the biggest companies got into trouble with one of the manufacturers of the products that he performed the warranty work on. He got down to just himself and his son doing some specialty installation work.
Then one employee of a folded company, got together with a different type company and started doing the same type work that I was doing. I was getting fed up with the long hours, the bookkeeping, doing all of it myself, and didn't want employees. So when I was approached with a decent offer, I accepted.
I didn't get 'rich' or save enough to retire early.
After 10 years of working for myself and 9+ years of working for 'the man', I finished putting the kids through school, paid off the mortgage, and never went hungry. I retired in 2004 at age 62. Before doing so, I had made the repairs needed on the house, replaced the major appliances, etc. so there shouldn't be any 'surprises' after I retired. Had a nice 3 year old car, two older pickups, and a Jeep Cherokee. Everything was paid for, no bills except the monthly utilities, etc. I sold one of the pickups and got the other one totaled in a wreck.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

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