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	<title>Comments on: A strategy for reducing income inequality</title>
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	<link>http://lanekenworthy.net/2009/11/23/a-strategy-for-reducing-income-inequality/</link>
	<description>Lane Kenworthy</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:54:44 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>By: gordon</title>
		<link>http://lanekenworthy.net/2009/11/23/a-strategy-for-reducing-income-inequality/#comment-1587</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[gordon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:06:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lanekenworthy.net/?p=4068#comment-1587</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hmph. After putting up my previous comment I tried again and succeeded. Weird but problem seems fixed.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hmph. After putting up my previous comment I tried again and succeeded. Weird but problem seems fixed.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: gordon</title>
		<link>http://lanekenworthy.net/2009/11/23/a-strategy-for-reducing-income-inequality/#comment-1586</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[gordon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:58:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lanekenworthy.net/?p=4068#comment-1586</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#039;m having a lot of trouble downloading the linked paper. Is it just me or are others having trouble too?]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m having a lot of trouble downloading the linked paper. Is it just me or are others having trouble too?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Alan Jones</title>
		<link>http://lanekenworthy.net/2009/11/23/a-strategy-for-reducing-income-inequality/#comment-1558</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alan Jones]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:02:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lanekenworthy.net/?p=4068#comment-1558</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#039;s an idea:  Move to Denmark or Sweden.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Here&#8217;s an idea:  Move to Denmark or Sweden.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: chris dorf</title>
		<link>http://lanekenworthy.net/2009/11/23/a-strategy-for-reducing-income-inequality/#comment-1488</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[chris dorf]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:24:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lanekenworthy.net/?p=4068#comment-1488</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I will copy a portion of a letter from Norm Kurland of the Economic Group CESJ - Center For Economic and Social Justice- which Norm posted on his website regarding the Kelsonian solutions to your observations, which these have been pushing for for 40 years...
___________________________________________________

I suggest that (Moore) he receive Michael&#039;s /In Defense of Human Dignity/ and /Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen/, plus Father Ferree&#039;s pamphlet &quot;Introduction to Social Justice.&quot;

You can suggest that he visit the website of the Center for Economic and Social Justice at http://www.cesj.org to learn of our accomplishments since we formed in 1984, especially our rallies for the last 5 years at the Fed, as well as being able to download the two Kelso-Adler books from our homepage.

If you send him an email, cut and paste this quote from Walter Reuther, who I served as director of planning for the Citizens Crusade Against Poverty chaired by Reuther from 1965-68, before Kelso and I teamed up:

  *Walter P Reuther*. (President, United Auto Workers) &quot;*Profit
  sharing in the form of stock distributions to workers would help to
  democratize the ownership of America&#039;s vast corporate wealth which
  is today appallingly undemocratic and unhealthy*. The Federal
  Reserve Board recently published data from which it is possible to
  estimate the degree of concentration in the ownership of publicly
  traded stock held by individuals and families as of December 1962.
  Preliminary analysis of these data indicates that, despite all the
  talk of a &quot;people&#039;s capitalism&quot; in the United States, little more
  than one percent of all consumer units owned approximately 70
  percent of all such stock. Fewer than 8 percent of all consumer
  units owned approximately 97 percent—which means, conversely, that
  the total direct ownership interest of more than 92 percent of
  America&#039;s consumer units in the corporation-operated productive
  wealth of this country was approximately 3 percent. Profit sharing
  in a form that would help to correct this shocking maldistribution
  would be highly desirable for that reason alone.… If workers had
  definite assurance of equitable shares in the profits of the
  corporations that employ them, they would see less need to seek an
  equitable balance between their gains and soaring profits through
  augmented increases in basic wage rates. *This would be a desirable
  result from the standpoint of stabilization policy because profit
  sharing does not increase costs. Since profits are a residual, after
  all costs have been met, and since their size is not determinable
  until after customers have paid the prices charged for the firm&#039;s
  products, profit sharing as such cannot be said to have any
  inflationary impact upon costs and prices*.&quot; [Testimony before the
  Joint Economic Committee of Congress on the President&#039;s Economic
  Report, February 20, 1967.]

And here are six of the 20 reforms we are advocating under the proposed Capital Homestead Act, which Walter Reuther would have backed if he had not been killed in a 1968 plane crash but which his successors at the United Auto Workers ignored at the expense of UAW members since Reuther&#039;s death:

  *
  (10 Democratize Ownership of the Federal Reserve. *Provide every
  citizen a single, lifetime, non-transferable voting share in the
  nation&#039;s central bank and in one of the 12 regional Federal Reserve
  banks. This will ensure that the Fed&#039;s board of governors is broadly
  representative of all groups affected by Fed policy, and that power
  over future money creation is spread widely among all citizens.

**

  *(11) Discourage Monopolies and Monopolistic Ownership.* Link all
  economic reforms to methods that discourage privileged access to
  monopolistic accumulations of private property ownership of the
  means of production. Enforce anti-trust laws by providing access to
  interest-free capital credit to encourage broadly owned new
  competitors to enhance and sustain market-oriented growth.


  *(12) Introduce a Market-Driven Wage and Price System.* Gradually
  eliminate rigid, artificially-protected wage and price levels and
  other restrictions on free trade that afford special privileges to
  some industries, businesses and workers at the expense of American
  and foreign customers of US products. Replace subsidies with
  interest-free credit incentives to farmers who wish to associate
  voluntarily in cooperatives and in enterprises jointly owned by
  farmers and workers, including integrated agribusinesses. The income
  generated by farmer-owned enterprises would supplement farm incomes
  and reduce the need for subsidies.


  *(13) Restore Property Rights in Corporate Equity.* Restore the
  original rights of “private property” to all owners of corporate
  equity, particularly with respect to the right to profits and in the
  sharing of control over corporate policies. Preserve traditional
  powers of professional managers held accountable by Justice-Based
  Management corporate governance structures.


  *(14) Offer a More Just Social Contract for Workers.* A top priority
  during the next decade would be developing a more just “social
  contract” for persons employed in the private sector. This would be
  geared toward establishing maximum ownership incentives. Instead of
  inflationary “wage system” increases, employees would begin to earn
  future increases in income through production bonuses, equity
  accumulations, and profit earnings. These &quot;bottom-line&quot; rewards
  would be linked to workers&#039; individual contributions, and to the
  productivity and success of their work team and the enterprise for
  which they work.


  *(15) Encourage More Harmonious Worker-Management Relations.*
  Promote the right of non-management workers to form democratic
  unions and other voluntary associations. Instead of promoting the
  traditional “conflict model” of industrial relations, however,
  &quot;labor&quot; unions would be encouraged to transform themselves into
  democratic &quot;ownership unions.&quot; These ownership unions could become
  society’s primary institutions for promoting a free market version
  of economic justice, while continuing to negotiate and advance
  workers’ economic interests, including worker ownership rights and
  Justice-Based Management policies.

  Under Capital Homesteading, unions could expand their role in a free
  market system by educating and expanding their membership to include
  all citizen-shareholders. Ownership unions would enhance the
  property rights of all shareholders by enhancing management
  accountability and transparency, and protecting against unjust
  executive compensation schemes.

Guy, Michael Moore, if he reads these points and then our books, should get a deeper understanding of why America&#039;s basic industries are going down the tube and ending up in countries where foreign wage slaves can take the jobs of unemployed American wage slaves. Michael Moore can not only help in our goal to democratize future ownership of the 12 regional Feds but also begin advocating the workers themselves organize to persuade their leaders to transform labor unions into &quot;ownership unions.&quot;]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I will copy a portion of a letter from Norm Kurland of the Economic Group CESJ &#8211; Center For Economic and Social Justice- which Norm posted on his website regarding the Kelsonian solutions to your observations, which these have been pushing for for 40 years&#8230;<br />
___________________________________________________</p>
<p>I suggest that (Moore) he receive Michael&#8217;s /In Defense of Human Dignity/ and /Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen/, plus Father Ferree&#8217;s pamphlet &#8220;Introduction to Social Justice.&#8221;</p>
<p>You can suggest that he visit the website of the Center for Economic and Social Justice at <a href="http://www.cesj.org" rel="nofollow">http://www.cesj.org</a> to learn of our accomplishments since we formed in 1984, especially our rallies for the last 5 years at the Fed, as well as being able to download the two Kelso-Adler books from our homepage.</p>
<p>If you send him an email, cut and paste this quote from Walter Reuther, who I served as director of planning for the Citizens Crusade Against Poverty chaired by Reuther from 1965-68, before Kelso and I teamed up:</p>
<p>  *Walter P Reuther*. (President, United Auto Workers) &#8220;*Profit<br />
  sharing in the form of stock distributions to workers would help to<br />
  democratize the ownership of America&#8217;s vast corporate wealth which<br />
  is today appallingly undemocratic and unhealthy*. The Federal<br />
  Reserve Board recently published data from which it is possible to<br />
  estimate the degree of concentration in the ownership of publicly<br />
  traded stock held by individuals and families as of December 1962.<br />
  Preliminary analysis of these data indicates that, despite all the<br />
  talk of a &#8220;people&#8217;s capitalism&#8221; in the United States, little more<br />
  than one percent of all consumer units owned approximately 70<br />
  percent of all such stock. Fewer than 8 percent of all consumer<br />
  units owned approximately 97 percent—which means, conversely, that<br />
  the total direct ownership interest of more than 92 percent of<br />
  America&#8217;s consumer units in the corporation-operated productive<br />
  wealth of this country was approximately 3 percent. Profit sharing<br />
  in a form that would help to correct this shocking maldistribution<br />
  would be highly desirable for that reason alone.… If workers had<br />
  definite assurance of equitable shares in the profits of the<br />
  corporations that employ them, they would see less need to seek an<br />
  equitable balance between their gains and soaring profits through<br />
  augmented increases in basic wage rates. *This would be a desirable<br />
  result from the standpoint of stabilization policy because profit<br />
  sharing does not increase costs. Since profits are a residual, after<br />
  all costs have been met, and since their size is not determinable<br />
  until after customers have paid the prices charged for the firm&#8217;s<br />
  products, profit sharing as such cannot be said to have any<br />
  inflationary impact upon costs and prices*.&#8221; [Testimony before the<br />
  Joint Economic Committee of Congress on the President's Economic<br />
  Report, February 20, 1967.]</p>
<p>And here are six of the 20 reforms we are advocating under the proposed Capital Homestead Act, which Walter Reuther would have backed if he had not been killed in a 1968 plane crash but which his successors at the United Auto Workers ignored at the expense of UAW members since Reuther&#8217;s death:</p>
<p>  *<br />
  (10 Democratize Ownership of the Federal Reserve. *Provide every<br />
  citizen a single, lifetime, non-transferable voting share in the<br />
  nation&#8217;s central bank and in one of the 12 regional Federal Reserve<br />
  banks. This will ensure that the Fed&#8217;s board of governors is broadly<br />
  representative of all groups affected by Fed policy, and that power<br />
  over future money creation is spread widely among all citizens.</p>
<p>**</p>
<p>  *(11) Discourage Monopolies and Monopolistic Ownership.* Link all<br />
  economic reforms to methods that discourage privileged access to<br />
  monopolistic accumulations of private property ownership of the<br />
  means of production. Enforce anti-trust laws by providing access to<br />
  interest-free capital credit to encourage broadly owned new<br />
  competitors to enhance and sustain market-oriented growth.</p>
<p>  *(12) Introduce a Market-Driven Wage and Price System.* Gradually<br />
  eliminate rigid, artificially-protected wage and price levels and<br />
  other restrictions on free trade that afford special privileges to<br />
  some industries, businesses and workers at the expense of American<br />
  and foreign customers of US products. Replace subsidies with<br />
  interest-free credit incentives to farmers who wish to associate<br />
  voluntarily in cooperatives and in enterprises jointly owned by<br />
  farmers and workers, including integrated agribusinesses. The income<br />
  generated by farmer-owned enterprises would supplement farm incomes<br />
  and reduce the need for subsidies.</p>
<p>  *(13) Restore Property Rights in Corporate Equity.* Restore the<br />
  original rights of “private property” to all owners of corporate<br />
  equity, particularly with respect to the right to profits and in the<br />
  sharing of control over corporate policies. Preserve traditional<br />
  powers of professional managers held accountable by Justice-Based<br />
  Management corporate governance structures.</p>
<p>  *(14) Offer a More Just Social Contract for Workers.* A top priority<br />
  during the next decade would be developing a more just “social<br />
  contract” for persons employed in the private sector. This would be<br />
  geared toward establishing maximum ownership incentives. Instead of<br />
  inflationary “wage system” increases, employees would begin to earn<br />
  future increases in income through production bonuses, equity<br />
  accumulations, and profit earnings. These &#8220;bottom-line&#8221; rewards<br />
  would be linked to workers&#8217; individual contributions, and to the<br />
  productivity and success of their work team and the enterprise for<br />
  which they work.</p>
<p>  *(15) Encourage More Harmonious Worker-Management Relations.*<br />
  Promote the right of non-management workers to form democratic<br />
  unions and other voluntary associations. Instead of promoting the<br />
  traditional “conflict model” of industrial relations, however,<br />
  &#8220;labor&#8221; unions would be encouraged to transform themselves into<br />
  democratic &#8220;ownership unions.&#8221; These ownership unions could become<br />
  society’s primary institutions for promoting a free market version<br />
  of economic justice, while continuing to negotiate and advance<br />
  workers’ economic interests, including worker ownership rights and<br />
  Justice-Based Management policies.</p>
<p>  Under Capital Homesteading, unions could expand their role in a free<br />
  market system by educating and expanding their membership to include<br />
  all citizen-shareholders. Ownership unions would enhance the<br />
  property rights of all shareholders by enhancing management<br />
  accountability and transparency, and protecting against unjust<br />
  executive compensation schemes.</p>
<p>Guy, Michael Moore, if he reads these points and then our books, should get a deeper understanding of why America&#8217;s basic industries are going down the tube and ending up in countries where foreign wage slaves can take the jobs of unemployed American wage slaves. Michael Moore can not only help in our goal to democratize future ownership of the 12 regional Feds but also begin advocating the workers themselves organize to persuade their leaders to transform labor unions into &#8220;ownership unions.&#8221;</p>
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