US corporate profits soar on layoffs, wage cuts

[Hannah Bell]

US corporate profits are soaring in the midst of the deepest economic slump since the Great Depression, on the basis of a ruthless policy of using mass unemployment to slash wages and heighten the exploitation of American workers. In order to make the impoverishment of the working class a permanent feature of American life, companies are hoarding vast amounts of cash rather than hiring workers and expanding output.

These are the conclusions that flow from a Wall Street Journal analysis of second-quarter 2010 corporate profits, reported in the newspaper’s Monday edition under the headline “Propelling the Profit Comeback: Retooling, Downsizing.” The article gives statistics showing that US corporate profits are surging despite stagnant and even falling revenue, sharply increasing the percentage of revenue represented by profit.

None of the other major industrialized nations has registered a rise in corporate profits in the aftermath of the financial panic of September 2008 comparable to that in the US. Not coincidentally, none has witnessed mass layoffs on the scale seen here.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/prof-o06.shtml


UAW has a no-strike clause in their current contract, but capital is on strike everywhere.

[Tunkamerica]

1. seen it.

but we all get great annual reviews since raises are off till further notice.

[rpannier]

2. I'd say it's criminal

But that would be class warfare or something

Thanks again for sharing Hannah Bell. It is appreciated

[dkf]

3. "Capital is on strike" is probably a good way to put it.

The Government does not have the capability to force individuals or companies to invest. They can incentivize it, but that is the limit. US workers don't have the temperament nor the savings available to go on strike and that is probably where it will end. I don't see that it is feasible to think Americans will insist on socialism as our way of life. Americans still prize our promised "freedoms" and it is the way we teach people to think about Government's role.

[Leftist Agitator]

4. "None of the other major industrialized nations has registered a rise in corporate profits"

None of the other major industrialized nations is governed by an oligarchic kakistocracy.

[bvar22]

5. When the Working Class & The Poor ...

...realize we have more in common with each other than we have in common with the Ruling Elite of BOTH political parties, we can have "CHANGE".

[Starry Messenger]

6. recommend.

[zbdent]

7. wait ... I thought that consumer confidence was down, and thus spending was down ...

and they have "PROFITS"???

[Hannah Bell]

8. GM has posted $2.5 BILLION in profit for the first half of this FY.

and they're still racheting down wages.