Your letters: Your opinions on Business news
Your opinions on Business news
By Times Staff
Published January 20, 2008
Inflation hits 17-year high Jan. 17
Economy always out of whack
You can be assured inflation will continue. Probably forever. And you can also be assured the people who work for minimum wage will continue to suffer the most. Minimum wage is adjusted upward by legislative action, but not on a timely basis. As soon as a new minimum wage is established, the wage earner's buying power continually diminishes on a daily basis and the decline is equal to the daily upward rate of inflation.
And as long as one part of our economy (minimum wage) is controlled, and the other part of our economy (pricing) is free to wander based on supply and demand or whatever the traffic will bear, the stabilization of our economy cannot be realized. It's patriotically called a free economy.
But when the captains of our industries' yearly wage would buy the minimum wage earner's house, two or three times - and one hour of that captain's bonus would keep a family of three comfortably for a year - our economy will always be out of whack. And we will have to always be fixing it from the nation's Treasury or by cutting taxes and usually some deficit spending. According to the dictionary, wages are the share of the total product of industry that goes to labor as distinguished from the share taken by capital. So until we can have some reasonable thinking and equaling here, we will always have a stop-and-go economy.
The managers of our economy, governmental and private, have brought us to the threshold of a quadrillion-dollar debt. And it's never mentioned.
Hartley Steeves, Tampa
Let Letterman handle the laughs
In the Business section, the price of whole milk is documented as increasing 22 percent. Also in the same paper (This Just In), Late Show host David Letterman is quoted saying that "the price of milk has gone up 36 percent." We appear to have a 14 percentage point discrepancy regarding the increasing price of milk. Although, either way you look at it, it's really pretty discouraging. But "holy cow," which is it?
JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater
Editor's note: We cited the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics directly. While we hope you find accurate business news here, we suggest you'll find more laughs provided by the Letterman show.
Buyer, be awed Jan. 13
Wealthy aren't feeling the pain
Your article mentions, "The flip side of the real estate slump is quite, quite stunning." Most of us who feel our economic status has gone from middle class to something much less are indeed "flipped" out over the ability of financial elitists to pay cash for those multimillion-dollar mansions.
I doubt these wealthy palace dwellers experience any hardships with the rising property taxes and insurance premiums. They are more concerned about keeping up with their high-end neighbors.
You also mention there are more than 40,000 properties for sale in the tri-county region. With the median price in the Tampa area valued at $195,000 and thousands of homeowners facing bankruptcy, the article brings a feeling of contention rather than awe.
The truth that faces most Americans is well written by Times Business editor Robert Trigaux in the adjacent article that speaks of the increasing likelihood of the "R-word" (recession). Most of the middle class can already attest to their recessive economic status.
Ronald Rae, Spring Hill
Detroit's "plug-in" concept cars
Plugging in isn't progress
So, Detroit is going to introduce cars that you drive in the daytime and plug in (to recharge the batteries) at night. That is not progress. It doesn't reduce pollution. It only relocates the source of the pollution from the tailpipe of the car to the smoke stack of the electric power plant.
In the early 1970s, Detroit would not compete with VW and Toyota, saying that the little, fuel-efficient cars were just a fad. Well, after millions like me bought Japanese or German, we finally got Detroit's attention and they entered the small-car market. Unfortunately, by then the Germans and Japanese had acquired a sizable following, which Detroit was unable to recover.
Now, Toyota has a very good, almost pollution-free gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle that is well made and reasonably priced. Is Detroit going to compete in that market? No, they are going to give us an $80,000 electric sports car that you plug in at night. Big deal. Maybe we can use it to race the Energizer Bunny.
Alfred J. D'amario, Hudson
Taking a share of the presidential stakes, column Jan. 12
It's a market, not gambling
I enjoyed your IEM trading story. I've been on the Tippie Business School faculty for many years, and I served as dean for 13 years before taking the job of interim president of the University of Iowa for 15 months. I've watched IEM trading since the market was created in the late 1980s. I can tell you one thing: Most all of the money in these markets is made by a relatively small number of clever traders who don't follow the herd. Some of these "sophisticated" traders have made considerable amounts in this rather small market.
I think it would be nice if you could think about the IEM as a "presidential stock market," rather than using betting or gambling analogies. The prices reflect the best judgment and aggregated information of the traders, just as stock prices do. There is a bid-ask spread, as is typical, and the size of that spread is important.
Thanks for writing an interesting and fun column. Who knows, you may soon open your own Vanguard account, which, by the way, is probably a good idea, even in these turbulent times.
Gary Fethke, Iowa City, Iowa
Bank of America's takeover of Countrywide
Time for CEOs to be accountable
There's something terribly wrong with this country when the CEO (Angelo Mozilo) of a healthy company (Countrywide) can take that company to the verge of bankruptcy and then walk away with $60-million after the company is bought by another company (Bank of America) led by an equally stupid CEO (Ken Lewis).
I guess when Bank of America is driven to bankruptcy by all the problems caused by Mozilo and passed on in the deal, Ken Lewis will be similarly compensated for his incompetence and take off with even more money. When, if ever, are CEOs going to start being held accountable for their actions? Not until CEOs stop sitting on each other's boards.
A. T. Barnard, Beverly Hills
Customers need to say no to Publix, letter Jan. 13
Publix does it right all the way
After reading Mr. Torregiante's opinion of Publix, we just had to give ours. You know that saying, "you get what you pay for"? Publix always has the cleanest store, they listen to the consumer, you can find products there that other stores do not carry and their employees are happy, courteous and helpful. It is a pleasure shopping at a Publix. From the deli to the bakery, they have the best of everything. We also know for a fact Publix is the biggest donator of food to nonprofit organizations. Now how can you talk against a company that feeds the poor and less fortunate?
Jim and Carol Janocha, Safety Harbor
Publix was rude, too expensive
Not only being unfair to employees, at Publix they are also unfair and rude to customers. Being closer to home than other supermarkets, I thought I would try Publix. Everything went well until I reached the checkout. When I realized I did not have enough cash for my purchases, I wrote a check.
The cashier looked at me and asked, "Can you read?" In no uncertain terms, she really told me off. I guess there was a sign that I did not see about writing a check at that particular checkout.
I was so ridiculed and embarrassed that I just left all my groceries there, walked out and went to another supermarket where I wrote a check, was treated with dignity and even thanked for shopping there.
Also, I agree with the Tarpon Springs gentleman who said Publix prices are 20 to 30 percent higher. Never again will I shop at Publix.
D. Schwall, Bayonet Point
Stop the bashing of Publix
Is there some reason for the ongoing publishing of weekly Publix-bashing letters? Worker complaints, tipping policy, prices. Do you never receive and publish complaints about any of the other competing supermarkets? Or is the Publix management offered space to respond?
Granted, consumer/worker dissatisfaction needs an outlet voice, but the Times' Business section is demeaning to both the company and the paper.
Harriett Turley, St. Petersburg
Publix should allow tipping
Loosen policy to help baggers
I walk daily for fitness and pass the Publix store in Disston Plaza seven days a week, three times a day. My wife and I also shop there on weekends. I have noted that Publix baggers who push the carts to customers' cars and unload the groceries are not people with arctic demeanors. Instead, they are courteous, helpful and friendly folks to the core.
Publix management should allow these hard workers to accept tips, especially during the holiday season. If we can tip mail carriers and newspaper delivery people around Christmas, why can't we tip Publix employees who surely could use a few extra dollars?
Robert B. Fleming, St. Petersburg
Shameful support by Mac and PC, column Jan. 14
Tech columnist should open mind
I think you should change the name of John Torro's column to "All About Windows" and find an additional tech person with an open mind who can answer the questions we Mac users might have. I am not sure why the fastest-growing computer segment with 8 percent of market share would be dismissed in a "technology" column the way Torro dismissed it with the advice of "don't buy a Mac" in a recent article. I found that advice to be shockingly arrogant for a so-called technology expert, but obviously John is not very familiar with the Macintosh platform, and is afraid of what he doesn't know. This is the defensive posture I have found to be very typical of avid Windows users. I have used both platforms for almost 20 years. Each has its different strengths, but apparently John is too busy trying to rid his PC of viruses to acknowledge that.
Sheree Wood, Tampa
Larry, Curly, Moe and the understimulated economy, column Jan. 16
Add Ben Stein to list of stooges
What started as a smirk (by Ben Stein) surely ended in outright laughter (by your readers) over his commentary that "The problem - as the Fed perceived it - is that there are signs of inflation."
Stein's prognostication is that those signs are illusory and meaningless when deciding to make more cheap money available to Wall Street - when the Fed gives the money to banks and the banks give it to speculators.
When the Fed gave $2-billion to Bank of America in August, the bank bought stock in "subprime" Countrywide with the whole bundle. Therefore, as Stein opines, the Fed should not worry about inflation in deciding to lower interest rates even further.
The outright laughter comes from the headline opposite Stein's opinion (on page 2D): " '07 wholesale inflation a 26-year high."
Larry, Curly, Moe & Ben, a foursome on Federal Reserve policy.
Bill Boyd, Apollo Beach