Making sure the least productive get no jobs

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. The legislative mandate is government should get between the buyer and seller and tell both how the seller should be compensated. More so, they tell the buyer that the needs of the seller are paramount even if the transaction is not equally beneficial for the buyer.
     The government has no place in a financial transaction where the knowledge of the trade is equal. In today’s market the trade is for goods called “productivity” and “compensation.” The trade is someone’s productivity for someone’s money. It is a simple trade since both participants get to decide if they want to trade. Both can go forward with the transaction or both can decide not to trade.
     But the government says the problem with the free exercise of trade is that the person with productivity has no leverage. Not so, people with money understand the only way they get more money is by trading money for productivity which fuels commercial enterprises. Productivity is the lifeblood of enterprise. Employers are only as good as their workers.
     The sticking point is when people have no productivity. What are they trading? Further, it is nonsense to think any worker is the same as any other worker. This is a “One size fits all” notion from government. If the people in the government were to be in business they would find out quickly that each potential worker has differing levels of productivity to sell to the employer for money.
     But the government dictates to the buyers of productivity that all workers have the same baseline of productivity whether they actually have any productivity. We employers are told that a fresh-face novice in business with no productive skills must be compensated for productive skills they do not have. Our only other option is to not hire that person. Most of us do not hired people who do not have any productive skills.
     Why would I trade money with someone who does not have something to trade? Worse, I am forced into charity work with the lifeblood of my business, my workforce. As those who know me can attest, I am quite charitable, but I cannot afford to be with my workforce. My workforce is all that is between me and being out of business. The government stops me from making a fair trade for the actual productivity of potential employees. Read more
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Spence: Rewarding Financial Illiteracy

Commentary by Jim Spence: There is a sad truth in 21st Century America. The United States is led by people who are financially illiterate. It is also terribly sad that the majority of the U.S. electorate is now also financially illiterate.
     Only widespread financial illiteracy can explain how a corrupt policy of forcing investors seeking safety, to loan their savings to the federal government for less than 1% goes virtually unchallenged. Illiteracy also explains how Americans can hear a proposal calling for the federal government to artificially inflate the value of unskilled labor to $9 per hour (plus all the other taxes and costs associated with making payrolls) without grasping the true consequences of such a childish plan.
     America’s president is portrayed as someone who “feels” deeply for low skill workers by an adoring and financially illiterate news media. His policy of paying near zero interest rates on federal borrowings is falsely portrayed as an effort to “help” the economy. His childish economic policies almost never draw any media scrutiny.
     Evidence of financial illiteracy is everywhere. We live in a popular culture where more people know the identity of reality television stars than the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
     After decades of coddling self-serving teacher unions and wasteful bureaucrats, the public school system is now saddled with the enormous burden of babysitting the offspring of financial illiterates. And accordingly, not present in most teacher skill sets is the ability to explain why it is so foolish and non-competitive to artificially inflate the value of unskilled labor. Also far from the skills of those in charge of the learning processes in our nation is the idea that when the federal government insists on paying less than 1% for savings…..very few people will bother to save. The consequences of inadequate savings rates are never discussed either.
     How can all of this be taking place in America right under our noses? The answer is pretty simple. The majority of American voters have chosen to become financially illiterate. America has elected a majority of financial illiterates and we have allowed the majority of our children to become financially illiterate. Now the majority of our children’s children have no clue about rational financial behavior either. Read more
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NM House approves increasing TV tax incentives


New Mexico lawmakers have approved a proposal to increase tax incentives for television shows filmed in the state. 
Supporters said Wednesday the measure could help draw more TV series to New Mexico. T
he award-winning series "Breaking Bad" is set in Albuquerque and filming a fifth and final season. 
New Mexico offers a 25 percent tax refund for certain film and TV production expenses. Legislation approved unanimously by the House increases the incentive to 30 percent for a TV show producing at least six episodes in New Mexico. A $50 million annual limit remains on the tax subsidies provided for all film and TV projects, but the bill allows unused subsidies below the cap to be carried over to the next year.
The measure heads to the Senate for consideration.


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Pete Domenici quiet on fathering a son outside of his marriage

Pete Domenici

Former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico is declining further comment after acknowledging he fathered a son outside his marriage three decades ago. 
The Albuquerque Journal reports that statements released by the Republican and the son's mother, Michelle Laxalt, of Alexandria, Va., identify Domenici as the father of Las Vegas lawyer Adam Paul Laxalt. 
In his statement, he said he is "very sorry" for his behavior and hopes his accomplishments for New Mexico outweigh what he calls his "personal transgression."
 Michelle Laxalt's statement said she and Domenici had agreed to keep his fatherhood secret because he and her father, ex-Nevada Gov. Paul Laxalt, were senators.


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ABQ Mayor steers clear of min. wage issues


Mayor Richard Berry says it isn't up to him to enforce the voter-approved ordinance increasing the minimum wage in Albuquerque
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Berry said in a written statement Tuesday that the law gave discretion to the city attorney, not the mayor, to enforce the ordinance. Berry later told the Journal that the city attorney is concerned about stepping into employer-employee disputes that could involve tens of thousands of businesses.
 The debate over carrying out the ordinance sharpened this week when the owner of the Route 66 Malt Shop announced that his employees had signed paperwork agreeing to work at the old, lesser wage. 



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Newsbreak New Mexico 8 a.m. Webcast 2/21/13

Newsbreak New Mexico 8 a.m. Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich

  Listen here:
 

House debates budget bill
ABQ Mayor not getting involved in min. wage
Pete Domenici fathers child out of wedlock 
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