Rep. Steve King compares workers to commodities like beans and corn

[The Rabbi]

And it is the comapanies...the MARKET which sets the precident on what can be afforded by each...hence competition...NOT Government mandates.

Or it should be.
In practice when gov't sets floors to the cost of labor they restrict the availability of jobs. If a project that costs $50M cannot be done profitably but could be done profitably at $35M then the labor that would have been hired at the lower price is not hired at all.

Yep. And of Labor? I think the NLRB needs to GO...defunded.

Workers in South Carolina who would be working at Boeing's new plant there certainly think so.

 

[The T]

Or it should be.
In practice when gov't sets floors to the cost of labor they restrict the availability of jobs. If a project that costs $50M cannot be done profitably but could be done profitably at $35M then the labor that would have been hired at the lower price is not hired at all.

Yep. And of Labor? I think the NLRB needs to GO...defunded.

Workers in South Carolina who would be working at Boeing's new plant there certainly think so.

Absolutely...and someone tell me Obama didn't have a hand in this or ONE of his 36 Czars?

 

[nraforlife]

Rep. Steve King compares workers to commodities like beans and corn | Crooks and Liars [Video]

The idea of Labor as a commodity is the single most destructive falsehood in what passes for current economic science. The social credit theorists of 80 years ago explained well where acceptance of this idea was leading before the First Great Depression. They still have the answer when folk have had their fill of the Second.

 

[MarcATL]

Rep. Steve King compares workers to commodities like beans and corn | Crooks and Liars [Video]

The idea of Labor as a commodity is the single most destructive falsehood in what passes for current economic science. The social credit theorists of 80 years ago explained well where acceptance of this idea was leading before the First Great Depression. They still have the answer when folk have had their fill of the Second.

RWers don't subscribe to science.

What they do subscribe to, however, is staunch RW ideology which is akin to a religion.

They just know certain things to be true. They can just feel it in their guts.

 

[The T]

Rep. Steve King compares workers to commodities like beans and corn | Crooks and Liars [Video]

The idea of Labor as a commodity is the single most destructive falsehood in what passes for current economic science. The social credit theorists of 80 years ago explained well where acceptance of this idea was leading before the First Great Depression. They still have the answer when folk have had their fill of the Second.

RWers don't subscribe to science.

What they do subscribe to, however, is staunch RW ideology which is akin to a religion.

They just know certain things to be true. They can just feel it in their guts.

Wrong as usual Marc. We know what we see, what we experience...and understand why with a certain thought process involved...something you have yet to discover...

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Wrong as usual Marc. We know what we see, what we experience...and understand why with a certain thought process involved...

Indeed, devoid of objective evidence, with disregard to facts which conflict with rightist dogma. You know you don’t like what you see and experience, your thought process exists in the context of conservative ideology; to you it’s ‘real.’

That you’re sincere in your beliefs isn’t at issue; at issue is the right’s refusal to consider data in an objective, comprehensive manner.

 

[The Rabbi]

Wrong as usual Marc. We know what we see, what we experience...and understand why with a certain thought process involved...

Indeed, devoid of objective evidence, with disregard to facts which conflict with rightist dogma. You know you don’t like what you see and experience, your thought process exists in the context of conservative ideology; to you it’s ‘real.’

That you’re sincere in your beliefs isn’t at issue; at issue is the right’s refusal to consider data in an objective, comprehensive manner.

You're right.
We see 9% unemployment for the last 2 years, unsustainable deficits threatening solvency, GDP growth under 2%, and labor participation rates at historical lows as wonderful proof of successful policies that have made this nation an economic powerhouse.
Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Trajan]

Wrong as usual Marc. We know what we see, what we experience...and understand why with a certain thought process involved...

Indeed, devoid of objective evidence, with disregard to facts which conflict with rightist dogma. You know you don’t like what you see and experience, your thought process exists in the context of conservative ideology; to you it’s ‘real.’

That you’re sincere in your beliefs isn’t at issue; at issue is the right’s refusal to consider data in an objective, comprehensive manner.

and of course the left is excepted form those tendencies...,they always 'consider data in an objective, comprehensive manner'?

 

[snjmom]

A commodity is something sold by price. Labor is exactly that. It doesn't matter whether the person running a machine is a PhD in Physics or a high school grad, assuming they are equally competent at the task. The determining factor for who gets the job is the price of labor, i.e. wage.

Without this understanding it is no wonder Lefties cannot grasp basic concepts.

A good or a service is something sold by price. A commodity is something that has reached the equilibrium point to where the products are so identical as to make not difference who the producer is and trades strictly on price, as quality and services are identical.

Right there, labor is not a commodity as quality and service are rarely identical. Labor is a highly differentiated market. What you are talking about is the wage paid for a particular job. Which is again, highly differentiated across markets. Consider the fast-food worker. In my city the fast-food worker will begin at minimum wage in the inner-city and minimum-wage plus 2-3 if hired in the outer suburbs. If labor were a commodity, their wage rates would be the same at all fast-food places around the nation, right?

People that don't understand the economic definition of a word shouldn't use it when discussing economic issues.

 

[snjmom]

Wrong as usual Marc. We know what we see, what we experience...and understand why with a certain thought process involved...

Indeed, devoid of objective evidence, with disregard to facts which conflict with rightist dogma. You know you don’t like what you see and experience, your thought process exists in the context of conservative ideology; to you it’s ‘real.’

That you’re sincere in your beliefs isn’t at issue; at issue is the right’s refusal to consider data in an objective, comprehensive manner.

You're right.
We see 9% unemployment for the last 2 years, unsustainable deficits threatening solvency, GDP growth under 2%, and labor participation rates at historical lows as wonderful proof of successful policies that have made this nation an economic powerhouse.
Thanks for pointing it out.

I'm assuming that means you are for the reversal of supply-side economics and deregulation as the failure it has proven to be and are ready to get rid of the Bush tax cuts.

 

[The Rabbi]

A commodity is something sold by price. Labor is exactly that. It doesn't matter whether the person running a machine is a PhD in Physics or a high school grad, assuming they are equally competent at the task. The determining factor for who gets the job is the price of labor, i.e. wage.

Without this understanding it is no wonder Lefties cannot grasp basic concepts.

A good or a service is something sold by price. A commodity is something that has reached the equilibrium point to where the products are so identical as to make not difference who the producer is and trades strictly on price, as quality and services are identical.

Right there, labor is not a commodity as quality and service are rarely identical. Labor is a highly differentiated market. What you are talking about is the wage paid for a particular job. Which is again, highly differentiated across markets. Consider the fast-food worker. In my city the fast-food worker will begin at minimum wage in the inner-city and minimum-wage plus 2-3 if hired in the outer suburbs. If labor were a commodity, their wage rates would be the same at all fast-food places around the nation, right?

People that don't understand the economic definition of a word shouldn't use it when discussing economic issues.

Mom, you need to just give it up. You make less and less sense and post more nonsense.
Just because something is differentiated doesn't make it not a commodity. West Texas crude is not like Saudi crude. Yet both are commodities.

 

[snjmom]

Does that mean that copper, iron, and oil are not commodities? They are all inputs of production that make automobiles.

Keep trying though.

No, they are not inputs of production.


Inputs of production are Land, Labor, Capital and Enterprise.

Commodities are raw materials used in production.

My eco 101 prof would be failing the both of you for this fundamental misunderstanding of economics. Especially if you called money, Capital.

no offense mom, but your sole contribution here has been some hacked un-attributed wiki entry's and some verbiage I cannot even translate.... I love Ur avatar though, so, have a nice day ok...

I'm sure anyone on the board that has taken an introduction to econ can confirm the validity of the terminology at wiki.

Feel free to counter with any source you can discover that states the inputs of production are anything other than Land, Labor, Capital and Enterprise. Or that a commodity is anything other than a good if speaking in economic terms.

 

[Steelplate]

Oh, and unemployment is being in the state of seeking employment without being employed.

unemployment is a surplus of employment......


if demand drops for a product the commodities's used to construct said product become stagnant or surplus...hello.

Ahh... but what if that "surplus" of employment was artificially generated by Corporate Greed? What if, in fact that surplus of employment became possible by exploiting a slave labor market in a KNOWN Communist country and other Socialistic ones, while at the same time slandering and demonizing American Citizens as Socialist and Communists who are intelligent enough to call these TRAITORS to task?


I know... It's called the Koch Brothers and the Tea Party.

 

[snjmom]

A commodity is something sold by price. Labor is exactly that. It doesn't matter whether the person running a machine is a PhD in Physics or a high school grad, assuming they are equally competent at the task. The determining factor for who gets the job is the price of labor, i.e. wage.

Without this understanding it is no wonder Lefties cannot grasp basic concepts.

A good or a service is something sold by price. A commodity is something that has reached the equilibrium point to where the products are so identical as to make not difference who the producer is and trades strictly on price, as quality and services are identical.

Right there, labor is not a commodity as quality and service are rarely identical. Labor is a highly differentiated market. What you are talking about is the wage paid for a particular job. Which is again, highly differentiated across markets. Consider the fast-food worker. In my city the fast-food worker will begin at minimum wage in the inner-city and minimum-wage plus 2-3 if hired in the outer suburbs. If labor were a commodity, their wage rates would be the same at all fast-food places around the nation, right?

People that don't understand the economic definition of a word shouldn't use it when discussing economic issues.

Mom, you need to just give it up. You make less and less sense and post more nonsense.
Just because something is differentiated doesn't make it not a commodity. West Texas crude is not like Saudi crude. Yet both are commodities.

commodity


Definitions (2)
1. A physical substance, such as food, grains, and metals, which is interchangeable with another product of the same type, and which investors buy or sell, usually through futures contracts. The price of the commodity is subject to supply and demand. Risk is actually the reason exchange trading of the basic agricultural products began. For example, a farmer risks the cost of producing a product ready for market at sometime in the future because he doesn't know what the selling price will be.

2. More generally, a product which trades on a commodity exchange; this would also include foreign currencies and financial instruments and indexes.

Read more: What is commodity? definition and meaning


Labor is not a commodity. It's asinine to say so.

 

[Steelplate]

Obviously, rightists don't understand economics if they call an input of production one of the consumer goods of production, a commodity.

Lady you don't have a clue.
Steel is an input in many products. And it is a commodity. The two are not mutually exclusive. As for the rest of the statement, when someone gets a translator from Gibberish I can respond better.

Steel is not an input. Steel is a raw material when used in the manufacturing of products that contain steel. Steel is a commodity. Please go back to economics class.

Steel is not a raw material. Iron is... Coke is... but Steel must be manufactured.. Please go back to Metallurgy Class. It is an input.

 

[snjmom]

Lady you don't have a clue.
Steel is an input in many products. And it is a commodity. The two are not mutually exclusive. As for the rest of the statement, when someone gets a translator from Gibberish I can respond better.

Steel is not an input. Steel is a raw material when used in the manufacturing of products that contain steel. Steel is a commodity. Please go back to economics class.

Steel is not a raw material. Iron is... Coke is... but Steel must be manufactured.. Please go back to Metallurgy Class. It is an input.

Steel is a raw material for vehicle manufacture.

The only inputs are Land which contains raw materials and anything derived from nature, Labor, Capital which are the manufactured goods used in production and Enterprise. This isn't metallurgy, it's economics. Learn the terms and understand what they define.

All commodities come under Land. Labor by definition isn't a commodity.

 

[Steelplate]

The idea of Labor as a commodity is the single most destructive falsehood in what passes for current economic science. The social credit theorists of 80 years ago explained well where acceptance of this idea was leading before the First Great Depression. They still have the answer when folk have had their fill of the Second.

RWers don't subscribe to science.

What they do subscribe to, however, is staunch RW ideology which is akin to a religion.

They just know certain things to be true. They can just feel it in their guts.

Wrong as usual Marc. We know what we see, what we experience...and understand why with a certain thought process involved...something you have yet to discover...

No you don't.... Because if you really opened your eyes, you'd see that the vast majority of our problems as a country begin and end with super powerful entities with vast amounts of money and resources that are manipulating our government to serve them and them alone.

But YOU DON'T see. You think it's because of a couple hundred thousand(Nationwide) Crackheads taking advantage of the Welfare system. You think it's about Old People on Fixed Incomes utilizing tools that they have paid into all their lives. It's much more convenient to blame "Gubmint" because they are easily replaced at election time. It's not so easy to look at where the true manipulators lie, because they hold all the cards... and like good little sheeple, you are afraid to stand up against them.

 

[The Rabbi]

Lady you don't have a clue.
Steel is an input in many products. And it is a commodity. The two are not mutually exclusive. As for the rest of the statement, when someone gets a translator from Gibberish I can respond better.

Steel is not an input. Steel is a raw material when used in the manufacturing of products that contain steel. Steel is a commodity. Please go back to economics class.

Steel is not a raw material. Iron is... Coke is... but Steel must be manufactured.. Please go back to Metallurgy Class. It is an input.

You might be the biggest ignoramus on this board.
Iron is not a raw material, as it is refined from ore. Neither is coke, as it is refined from coal.
But all of them are commodities, just like labor.

 

[Steelplate]

Steel is not an input. Steel is a raw material when used in the manufacturing of products that contain steel. Steel is a commodity. Please go back to economics class.

Steel is not a raw material. Iron is... Coke is... but Steel must be manufactured.. Please go back to Metallurgy Class. It is an input.

Steel is a raw material for vehicle manufacture.

The only inputs are Land which contains raw materials and anything derived from nature, Labor, Capital which are the manufactured goods used in production and Enterprise. This isn't metallurgy, it's economics. Learn the terms and understand what they define.

All commodities come under Land. Labor by definition isn't a commodity.

That's a bullshit thought process. If Steel were a naturally occurring product, I'd agree... but it's not. It has to be produced before it even comes close to an Auto plant. Is it a Material? Yes... but it's nowhere near "RAW". Automobiles are DEPENDENT upon Steel Manufacturers... therefore it is an INPUT.

 

[Steelplate]

Steel is not an input. Steel is a raw material when used in the manufacturing of products that contain steel. Steel is a commodity. Please go back to economics class.

Steel is not a raw material. Iron is... Coke is... but Steel must be manufactured.. Please go back to Metallurgy Class. It is an input.

You might be the biggest ignoramus on this board.
Iron is not a raw material, as it is refined from ore. Neither is coke, as it is refined from coal.
But all of them are commodities, just like labor.

Well, I thought that was a given, skippy... but thanks for explaining it to the "less informed". I grew up in Coal Country Pennsylvania and I live there still. My father worked in a Steel Mill.. so perhaps I was assuming too much from the folks on the board, My apologies.