About Theodore Misiak 8 Articles
Theodore Misiak has a Ph.D. in Economics and many years of experience in both business and academia.

18 Comments

    • The most minute of economic sense and elementary of management understanding would destroy any preconception that increasing the cost of labor won’t affect the cost of production and eventually the cost of goods

      • @Leslie (and Eddard Tyrsson)
        .
        I oppose the so-called “minimum wage.” The government should not mandate one; the Church should not promote one.
        .
        I know who Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, and Jeffrey Tucker are. And Tom Woods.
        .
        My comment “Honestly, I am shocked to read a Catholic (other than Tom Woods) not defend/promote the minimum wage,” remains. It is a very rare thing for a Catholic to suggest the minimum wage is problematic. Certainly the Bishops will not. And most of the laity seem to want this government welfare program or that one, cuz, “the poor.”

      • 80% of Americans share between them just 7% of the national wealth. One would think the economy as a whole would benefit if 80% shared something like 20% of the nations wealth. There is the economic reality of upward redistribution of wealth. A prime example was the house loans that lead to the Global financial Crisis. The superannuation and savings was ‘stolen’ from average Americans and went to large corporations by illegal banking loan classification and these banks on selling the bank loans to super fund investments of average Americans. This was made possible in a climate of de-regulation.
        This article from National Affairs about Upward Redistribution gives some information and a perspective on upward redistribution:
        https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-scourge-of-upward-redistribution

  1. These minimum wages jobs that Biden wants to “increase” the wage level to $15 per hour does nothing to help the poor souls who work in such situations. These “jobs” are not and never have been means of supporting a family or building a life. These are transitional jobs so that a person can benefit themselves, their family and society with education to get OUT of that transitional job and learn a productive trade, go to college, or trade school. Biden is actually doing a disservice to these poor people, keeping them in poverty but now they can buy the bread that cost $2.59 a loaf rather that having to buy the $.99 loaf. Isn’t America grand!

  2. I am so extremely happy to see a CATHOLIC defend the need for us to defend, basically, the need for humans to enjoy the “fruits of one’s own labor”, a necessary means of feeding and growing the human spirit, then OWNING property/homes in order to increase their own ability to be self-sufficient, vs government (ie others) dependent. Throughout the world’s history, no country in the world, ever, anywhere, had such rich poor as the USA. Why? Because our poor have always had the best ability to rise OUT of poverty, so that few REMAIN in the lowest 20% of net worth for long. The remaining are either incapable of working out of it ( which is a deeply held Catholic belief to actually support and help) or held their with the golden handcuffs of government dependence, especially young women who have been seduced by the shiny ring of money for bearing children, who are then raised in abject circumstances with a revolving door of occasional irresponsible men (which is deeply ANTI-Catholic, but has been held up as “social justice”). I am so happy to see that someone CATHOLIC has the courage to actually promote true Catholic Wisdom. All raising the “minimum wage” does is raise the prices of EVERYTHING, including rents, homes, food, gas, cars..in order to meet the minimum wage requirement. Which simply does a re-set of what the poverty line is. All smoke and mirrors, ie lies, ..and where to lies originate?

  3. “Family allowances”??? Really? Just welfare in steroids, paid for as always by those who actually work and given to those who do not. There are relatively few who REALLY cannot work because they are too ill, old or disabled. The majority are poor as a result of poor life decisions ( drug abuse, school drop-out, teen pregnancy) or similar poor life decisions by their parents. Why should that burden be shouldered by the productive members of society?

    • While I really believe we should each be as responsible as possible for our own needs & the needs of our families we should also be careful how to express that in our thoughts & words.
      We might not each be productive but we’re all valuable children of God.
      And just to mention, I think there’s a time & place for a lower hourly wage for entry level jobs. Those positions are really meant to be stepping stone, not a career. Raise the min. wage too high & young people will have a much harder time getting hired & automation always seems to follow wage increases. Just look at Walmart’s checkout kiosks. Ditto for McDonald’s, Costco, etc. Higher wages, less workers.

  4. This article brings up a point that is all too seldom considered. That is checks and balances. One of the main problems with crony capitalism, socialism, and communism is one of the concentration of power. Unaccountable power with few, if any, checks and balances. The kind of power that corrupts those who wield this power. The Founding Fathers devised a form of government that has a separation of powers, due process, and the rule of law that serves to decentralize power with a system of checks and balances. This as much as anything is probably the real reason why they are under attack.

  5. Who is bribing this Ph.D.? He is clearly a pro-business propagandist.

    The fact is that trying to make everything voluntary hasn’t and probably won’t work. This has been the “policy” since probably the late 19th century. Unions played a part in making things more just, but as an inferior solution they have contributed to the problem by impeding alternatives.

    $15/hr may be arbitrary, but probably economists would find it to be insufficient for most single people who lived in an area with a relatively high COL. Actually, based on productivity, the goal should be $21/hr.

    If the minimum wage was unjust, it is probable that there would have been strong Catholic opposition when it first came to be considered. I didn’t see any evidence for that in this article.

    Profits are a luxury, not a necessity. Only a propagandist would disagree. There is no reason that a CEO needs a six or seven figure salary. Increased wages may increase prices, but it also increases the ability to pay. Eventually a “sweet spot” will probably be reached.

    I believe that the minimum wage should, in general, be dependent on circumstances. Such would be the number of dependents – including any wives. Some kind of acceptable standard of living would need to be calculated. After this, a minimum wage which might be unique or at least “bounded” by the parameters used to create it would be crafted.

    There also could be a maximum wage or an enforced ratio within a company. CEOs couldn’t make more than a certain ratio compared to the lowest paid employee.

  6. For What We Could Have Done

    I’m an older man now
    and I want to give the next generation
    everything we have
    except that which we have torn and broken
    and that we have defiled
    in the garden we where given
    even though those who came before us
    had made a mess of some things
    we could have healed the scars
    on the face of the earth
    we could have mended hearts of the broken
    and comforted the children of the parents
    who had already passed on
    to the next chapter
    of what we do not know
    another garden perhaps
    where the spirit is as white as snow
    where the dove of peace
    and the lamb of grace
    have washed away all our mistakes
    all our pain, regret and sorrow
    for what we should have done.

    c hallam

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