Proposing the Best Solution to Inequality
“A dangerous and growing inequality, the lack of upward mobility, is the defining challenge of our time.”
— President Barack Obama (2013)
Socialism has once again reared its ugly head in American politics. The cause? The belief among many Americans that only the rich are benefiting from the Obama-Trump booming economy. That is, while the rich are getting richer, the poor are only getting paid the minimum wage.
The call for free education, Medicare for all, progressive taxation and a $15 minimum wage by Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has appealed to millions of Americans who have felt that they are being left behind.
Last week I spoke on this issue before a group of high school students at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara, hosted by the Young America’s Foundation.
During my speech, I asked the question, “Can we restore the American Dream for all without resorting to socialism?”
I think we can. How do you get rid of a bad idea like democratic socialism?
With a better idea — democratic capitalism!
Ford’s Famous $5 a Day Story
I told the students about Henry Ford’s $5 a day story. In 1914, Henry Ford’s car company made record profits of $30 million. He made front-page news by announcing his plan to more than double the minimum wage of Ford employees to $5 a day.
Almost overnight, his bold move destroyed the two biggest complaints socialists made about capitalism — that capitalists never shared their profits and that workers couldn’t afford the products they were making. With $5 a day, the workers now could!
Now that’s what I call “democratic capitalism.”
Employees Who Became Millionaires
Today there are more examples. Microsoft, the software giant headquartered in Seattle, has created over 30,000 millionaires from its own labor force. How? Bill Gates decided to give common workers stock options in his company. As a result, secretaries could become millionaires.
Ken Langone, the co-founder of Home Depot, proudly announced in his book, “I Love Capitalism,” that the company has produced over 3,000 millionaires from among his employees.
McDonald’s has over 25,000 franchise owners around the world, most of whom are multi-millionaires.
Even though Google is a fairly young tech company, over 1,000 of its workers have already become millionaires.
Conscious Capitalism to the Rescue
This kind of super compensation is what John Mackey calls “Conscious Capitalism” — where forward-thinking corporations engage in profit sharing.
If more companies adopt various forms of “democratic capitalism,” the popularity of socialism will wane and might even disappear.
Good investing, AEIOU,
Mark Skousen
Upcoming Conferences:
EconoSummit, March 23-24, Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada: I’ll be speaking Saturday morning on my “Outlook for Geo-Politics: Can America Stay #1?” Other speakers include Bill Strauss, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve, Jeff Clark, a mixed martial arts (MMA) expert and manager of several gyms in California I’m invested in and Mike Lathigee, the president of the Investment Club of America (formerly the Las Vegas Investment Club). My subscribers get $100 off the registration fee — you pay only $199. For information, go to http://lvinvestmentclub.com/event/lvic-econosummit-2019/ or email service@lvinvestmentclub.com.
Join Me at the MoneyShow in Las Vegas, May 13-15!
I invite you to join me for the MoneyShow in Las Vegas, May 13-15, when I will be a featured speaker to share my latest views about the market and the best investments to make now.
The event will be based at the Bally’s/Paris Resorts and feature more than 200 presentations. Other featured speakers include Steve Forbes, Hilary Kramer and Jim Woods. Click here to register free as my guest or call 1-800-970-4355 and be sure to use my priority code of 047455.
The Latest on FreedomFest: Check Out This Letter from a Subscriber
I received the following letter from Robert M., a coin dealer and long-time subscriber. He wrote a letter with the following headline:
“My Favorite Conference Every Year — This Time YOU Come!”
Dear friends, colleagues & clients,
I go to numerous political, health, economic and numismatic conferences, but FreedomFest is the #1 event I look forward to each year.
Now in its 13th year, FreedomFest brings together 2000+ libertarians, free-market oriented conservatives, anti-statist, anti-globalist, classical liberals, natural health advocates and the most peaceful anarchists one can find. Four days of fun, education, entertainment, music, skits, debates, films, revelations, exposes, networking and enlightenment.
If you have never been, make it this year that you go. There is so much to do and choose from going on at the same time that your head will spin. And you will be able not only to hear live but mingle one on one with movement notables such as Judge Napolitano, Doug Casey, Tom Woods, John Stossel, John Mackey, Larry Elder, Jim Rogers, Lisa Kennedy, Peter Schiff, Wayne Allyn Root, Steve Forbes, Dinesh D’Souza, Steve Moore, Peter Thiel, Candace Owens, Grover Norquist and FreedomFest founder Mark Skousen.
Plus, every year there are one-time surprise visitors/participants… past years included Donald Trump, Ron Paul, Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Mike Lee, William Shatner, Dr. Jonathon Wright, Rich Little, George Foreman, Jacob Hornberger, Andy Puzder and Charles Murray.
This year special guest, Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank,” will speak, entertain and may hang out for a bit. Penn Gillette of the comedy magicians “Penn & Teller” will speak and later have a special reception.
In a previous year, organizer Mark Skousen was even able to get the controversial Keynesian economist Paul Krugman to come and debate with Steve Moore.
Love him or not, when Donald Trump started his campaign for the presidency, FreedomFest was one of his first stops.
It is not just politics; it is culture, health and life extension technologies, economics, business, investments, personal and asset protection.
First timer? No worry, I can help you navigate.
Hard to leave work or business? No worry, every year we make new friends there and many have become clients. Names you would recognize from their articles or broadcasts are walking around as guests, just like us. Meet them.
It gets better every year. Each FreedomFest is tweaked with a theme. For 2019, it is “The Wild West.” Opportunity, Freedom and, yes, risk assessment danger.
Best to arrive by Wednesday noon or a little later (I go Tuesday) and leave Sunday. July 17 to 20, 2019, at the Paris hotel, Las Vegas.
Don’t procrastinate. The early bird discount ends in two weeks.
Best, Robert
Thanks, Robert! You have truly captured the spirit of FreedomFest.
I’ve highlighted in bold the speakers who have confirmed so far. Expect more to sign up soon, including several prominent senators and congressmen.
Early Bird Deadline: March 28
The early-bird discount ends on March 28. You can get $200 off the retail price of FreedomFest by registering before the end of this month — only two weeks away — by calling 1-855-850-3733, ext. 202, or by going to www.freedomfest.com, and using the code EAGLE. Instead of paying $695 per person/$995 per couple, you pay only $495 per person/$795 per couple.
You Blew it!
Department of Education Fails Again: Get Rid of It!
By Mark Skousen
Editor, Forecasts & Strategies
I know Betsy DeVos favors school choice, but can we really afford the Department of Education at a time when the federal deficit is approaching $1 trillion?
The Trump administration wants $68 billion in the 2020 fiscal year to keep the Department of Education and its 4,000 employees working.
But is there any evidence that education has improved in the United States since the Department of Education was created in 1979? I have seen no evidence of increased SAT scores.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon criticized our education system this week, saying that our workers and students don’t have the skill sets to fill the seven million jobs that go unfilled in this country. The United States could have grown twice as fast, he added, if we had the skill set for a modern global economy.
More immigration will help, but Donald Trump is opposed to illegal immigration and also favors restricting legal immigration.
Dimon’s bank, the country’s largest, just announced a $350 million investment to help workers train for the future, especially in technology.
The bank’s five-year initiative, called “New Skills at Work,” will put $200 million toward “developing and piloting innovative new educational and training programs” to teach digital and technical skills, a spokesperson for JPMorgan explained.
Another $125 million will help “strengthen educational and training systems that are necessary to improve collaboration and communication between employers and educators, including community colleges”.
The bank also announced that the final $25 million commitment will go “to support the development and dissemination of actionable labor market data and research.”
Dimon also noted that not everyone needs to go to a traditional four-year college and that community colleges and vocational schools are often a better choice.
“How many college graduates do you think want to be a teller? Probably very few,” he said. “We probably made a mistake from a business standpoint by making it a requirement for certain jobs.”
Last year, about 75% of the job openings that were posted for openings at JPMorgan did not require a college degree.
Imagine if the $68 billion which largely goes to federal bureaucrats and local administrators went to teachers and students in order to improve their skills?
