Financial Times (August 28)
In the U.S., “corporate profits have hit a record high while workers’ slice of the pie has sunk to historic lows, fuelling discontent among many Americans and a growing political backlash.” In this tale of two cities, corporate “pre-tax earnings hit an annualised $4.8tn in the second quarter, or 18 per cent of national income… the highest share since the aftermath of the second world war.” Meanwhile, “employees’ share from wages and benefits fell to 60 per cent, the lowest level since the 1950s.”
Tags: $4.8tn, Benefits, Corporate profits, Discontent, Employees, Historic lows, Political backlash, Pre-tax earnings, Q2, Record high, Sunk, U.S., Wages, Workers, WW2
The Week (August 1)
“President Trump’s approval rating has sunk to historic lows,” but this is not the most salient point. “The politically relevant, and profoundly disturbing, fact is” that after six months of unremitting chaos, lies, ignorance, trash-talking vulgarity, legislative failure, and credible evidence of a desire to collude with a hostile foreign government to subvert an American election, President Trump’s approval rating is astonishingly high.” Over one-third of Americans apparently like “what they see and hear from the White House….That is simply stunning — and reveals just how precarious American democracy has become.”
Tags: Approval, Chaos, Democracy, Disturbing, Election, Failure, Historic lows, Ignorance, Lies, Precarious, Trump, Vulgarity
