A short paper for school

I'm taking some classes online from the University of Massachusetts. My professors seem to be communists.

One of them wanted me to write a three paragraph summary of a paper written by the people at this place. I had to do more.


This is what I wrote:

The first thing the article does is explain that the the CEOs and managers of financial services firms such as brokerages and investment banks received large year-end bonuses. It describes the people who received these bonuses as “the Modern American Grinch”.

The article goes on to show how during what the authors call “America’s Golden Era from 1946 to 1973” productivity increases and wage increases for what the authors call “front line workers” were closely linked, but how from 2000 through 2006 productivity increases have not resulted in wage increases. The article contrasts the wage increase for that period with the end of year bonuses for the Wall Street CEOs. There were many charts and graphs used to show this. The “comparative economic fate of Wall Street CEOs and teens” was the most comical of these. I suppose, it was intended to make me feel outraged that bankers make more money than teenagers.

Quoting Dr. Seuss again the article concludes by saying the Wall Street Bankers and Corporate CEOs “have ‘found a new way to keep Christmas from coming’ for America’s front line workers.”


Criticisms:
1. In the Dr. Seuss Book, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, the Grinch character was a thief who stole the property of the Who’s of Whoville because he didn’t want them to enjoy Christmas. In fact, he wanted to keep Christmas from coming. It seems to me that the authors of the Article miscast the Wall Street CEOs as the Grinch. They did not steal the money, rather they were paid for serving their clients. It seems that the spirit of Grinch most nearly resides in the authors of the article, for they begrudge the bonus recipients as much as the Grinch did begrudge the Whos of Whoville.

2. Unemployeed Teenagers. If they are under the age of seventeen I have to wonder why they are not in school. If they are 17,18, or 19 they can join the army. But to compare the income of a teenager to the income of a highly productive banker is asinine. What do they do in the economy that is even close to being comparable? One sells shoes at the mall, or cleans a painter’s paint brushes, or parks cars. The other provides liquidity to the economy, finances loans for business expansion, helps people buy and sell shares, brings new financial products to the market, and helps the savings of a hundred million people grow. By all means, let’s make sure the banker gets paid the same as the teenage shoe salesman in the mall.

3. Use of the phrase “front line workers”. This seems to belittle the work of the CEOs and bankers. Another way of looking at this is that the CEOs are hired by the boards to make money for the shareholders, and that that all other employees are merely assistants to the CEOs. The main worker in the firms are the CEOs. It is they who receive the charge to grow the shareholder’s capital by any legal means, they who assemble and lead teams, they make the deals, they keep morale up in the face of setbacks and obstacles, they keep the company running smoothly, and with any luck, they make money. They create wealth. It’s like a ship. Or better yet, a naval battle. I am sure, I know for a fact, that there were many brave men aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga, the U.S.S. Hornet, the U.S.S. Enterprise and the other warships the United States sent against the Empire of Japan at the Battle of Midway. Every gunner, pilot, fireman, medic, and engineer was important. But they were all carrying out the will of one man, Admiral Nimitz. It was his will that said fight and kill and risk everything and win. So too does the CEO direct the firm toward victory. And if he doesn’t he is no CEO.

4. Finally, the article says something that comports neither with experience nor with Dr. Seuss’s book. The article ends with these words: “Who Stole Christmas from America’s Workers? One only needs to look at distorted CEO pay and Wall Street compensation to see where the Grinch has been resurrected. They have ‘found a new way to keep Christmas from coming’ for America’s front line workers.”

In answer to this I need only direct the attention of the articles authors to the end of Dr. Seuss’s book. For The Whos of Whoville did not suffer a loss of Christmas. Who ever heard of Christmas not coming? It always comes. Unless, like the authors of the article, one thinks money is a requirement. But, of course, if they really think the things money buys - presents and trees and wreaths - are requirements to celebrate Christmas, that not having these things can “keep Christmas from coming”, and if they think Christmas can be stolen, well, they are not really celebrating Christmas. They do not even know what Christmas is. So, I would invite them to learn about Christmas, and maybe their eyes will see and their ears will hear and their hearts, like the Grinch’s heart, will grow “grow three sizes larger”.