Inequality, Productivity, and WhatsApp by Robert Reich

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/02/21-2



If you ever wonder what’s fueling America’s staggering inequality, ponder Facebook’s acquisition of the mobile messaging company WhatsApp .

According to news reports, Facebook has agreed to buy WhatsApp for $19 billion.

That’s the highest price paid for a startup in history. It’s $3 billion more than Facebook raised when it was first listed, and more than twice what Microsoft paid for Skype.

(To be precise, $12 billion of the $19 billion will be in the form of shares in Facebook, $4 billion will be in cash, and $3 billion in restricted stock to WhatsApp staff, which will vest in four years.)

[pipoman]

1. Oh we know what's "fueling America's staggering inequality"

And it truly has little to do with tech buyouts. ..it has to do with the buyouts of political leaders. A good example would be the buyout of, say, a labor secretary who chose to disregard the wishes and logic of 90% of the labor he was charged with representing in favor of the wishes of the 1 % who owned him. A labor secretary who allowed labor to be sold to the lowest bidder, then works his stubby fingers to the bone writing denial after denial that his choice to sell out labor has had no impact on the inequality he loves to bemoan. A real life traitor to the labor he was supposed to represent.

[Vinnie From Indy]

2. Bravo

Cheers!