It seems to me that this country is a bit schizophrenic when it comes to economics. On one hand we all know that the enemy is big business. It's those evil corporations that are sapping the life out of us, stealing money for themselves instead of sharing it with us.
Now we find that corporations are having massive layoffs. Macy's is laying off 7,000. We gasp at those kinds of numbers. Understand, however, that they couldn't lay off 7,000 if they didn't have 7,000. On the other hand, that number represents 4% of its workforce. That is, Macy's, before the layoffs, maintained jobs for 175,000 people. After the layoffs, they will employ some 168,000 people. Morgan Stanley plans to drop 1,800 positions, some 5% of their 47,000. AOL, Starbucks, Target, all these evil corporations are laying people off. Why? Well, they're losing money and have to avoid going out of business.
Now, given the standard American hatred for evil big corporations, you might think that America would be rejoicing. Finally those dirty, rotten companies are getting theirs! They're feeling the pinch! They're paying the price! It's about time! But it doesn't seem like America is responding this way to what should have been good news. Instead, Consumer Confidence is near record lows in most places and dropping in others. How odd! You'd think that we'd be delighted with the fall of the giants, but instead we're losing confidence.
I am, of course, being sarcastic. Perhaps we can begin to see a factor that no one seemed to want to address before. Yes, sure, they make large profits and have power, but they are also the primary employers of the majority of American workers. Maybe, just maybe, this could serve as a reminder that "big business" doesn't necessarily mean "evil". Or, to put it in other terms, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."
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