JustRalph
09-19-2010, 06:35 PM
Free Markets are ruthless and always accurate in my opine. They reward what should be rewarded, and punish what shouldn't. Altering the free market via artificial incentive can be a very short term fix, but a long term debacle. Once again hurting the lower end of the spectrum. NCarolina is finding this out
This current economy is living proof......we are two years into the our own lost decade........
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/19/1703025/nc-incentives-lure-low-wage-jobs.html
About a third of the jobs announcements made by Gov. Bev Perdue's office this year have involved companies that pay wages below the average for the county receiving the business, including a handful that came nowhere near that mark.
That's up from about 20 percent for all of 2009. By comparison, in 2007 and 2008, just one such announcement was made by Gov. Mike Easley's office.
In May, the state gave incentives to a company paying less than $20,000 a year, not including benefits.
This trend is adding another layer of debate to a practice - corporate incentives - that already has its fair share of critics.
It's also raising questions about whether state and local officials, in their rush to put people back to work, are setting a precedent that could depress wages and damage the economy for years to come.
The 'downward race'
Critics of some of these deals, however, say that if taxpayer money is involved, the company should be required to meet certain minimum standards, whether it be wages, health insurance or some other measurement.
"Otherwise, essentially, all you're doing is taking taxpayer money to subsidize low-wage jobs that may not help a family really make ends meet," said John Quinterno, principal for South by North Strategies, a Chapel Hill research firm specializing in economic and social policy.
Most economists predict that wage growth will be modest in the coming years except for in a handful of industries.
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/19/1703025/nc-incentives-lure-low-wage-jobs.html#ixzz1019sgoRx
This current economy is living proof......we are two years into the our own lost decade........
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/19/1703025/nc-incentives-lure-low-wage-jobs.html
About a third of the jobs announcements made by Gov. Bev Perdue's office this year have involved companies that pay wages below the average for the county receiving the business, including a handful that came nowhere near that mark.
That's up from about 20 percent for all of 2009. By comparison, in 2007 and 2008, just one such announcement was made by Gov. Mike Easley's office.
In May, the state gave incentives to a company paying less than $20,000 a year, not including benefits.
This trend is adding another layer of debate to a practice - corporate incentives - that already has its fair share of critics.
It's also raising questions about whether state and local officials, in their rush to put people back to work, are setting a precedent that could depress wages and damage the economy for years to come.
The 'downward race'
Critics of some of these deals, however, say that if taxpayer money is involved, the company should be required to meet certain minimum standards, whether it be wages, health insurance or some other measurement.
"Otherwise, essentially, all you're doing is taking taxpayer money to subsidize low-wage jobs that may not help a family really make ends meet," said John Quinterno, principal for South by North Strategies, a Chapel Hill research firm specializing in economic and social policy.
Most economists predict that wage growth will be modest in the coming years except for in a handful of industries.
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/19/1703025/nc-incentives-lure-low-wage-jobs.html#ixzz1019sgoRx