America is a very wealthy nation, but that wealth is not evenly distributed, and in fact in recent decades the disparity between those that have that wealth, has increased substantially over those that do not; which is something that one would expect from corrupt, developing nations, as opposed to a nation that ostensibly is a country of, for, and by the people. Further, a significant portion of that wealth so generated is not even held in the hands of individuals, but represents, instead the enormous amount of wealth so saved by the biggest and most influential American corporations.
We read at nber.org that “As a share of global GDP, household saving dropped by nearly 6 percent between 1980 and 2013, when corporate saving increased by slightly less.” Further, corporate savings is generally considered to be defined as “profits less dividend payments to shareholders.” So, while these corporations have gotten ever more profitable, what they have not done, is re-distribute those profits through greater compensation for those that are employed by these corporations, or distribute such through dividends to their stockholders, or pay a more appropriate share to the government in taxation. In short, corporations have been getting ever richer, while people, in whole, have been drawing down upon their savings. That, would seem to imply, that this government isn’t really run by the people at all, but seems instead to have become co-opted by corporate power, of which because corporations, exist in perpetuity, creates a real conundrum for the good of our society.
So too, it must be recognized that those that do the saving are the very same entities that perform the loaning of their savings to borrowers and the like, therefore making those entities the ones that call the shots. Additionally, those that are savers, are also those that determine where best to invest their money, providing those entities with even more influence as to what things and businesses are or are not developed and invested upon, within a nation. The fact that so much money, is retained within the hands of corporations that are aptly skilled at both minimizing their tax liability as well as circumventing or amending community obligations, makes them extremely powerful and persuasive.
Quite frankly, when it comes to corporations and people, it isn’t a fair fight, because corporations can draw upon a seemingly endless amount of money to influence taxation policies, legislative laws, the interpretation of such, along with being able to delay justice, seemingly forever, when it is perceived to be to their benefit, along with the fact that the largest corporations can outspend a given individual or groups of individuals by incredible ratios, because of the massive wealth that they have already retained. This signifies, that to a very large extent, what corporations believe to be of benefit to their businesses, is what America legislators, far too often, oblige them with, without taking into fair consideration, often enough, their obligations to the people, in whole.
The fact that corporations are getting ever more gifted at increasing their savings rate, is also indicative that labor unions in America are moribund. The bottom line is that those that control the employment opportunities are able to far too often successfully negotiate the pay rate and benefits of those so employed in a manner in which they end up compensating their employees less than what fairness would so dictate, demonstrated in recent years by these corporations increasing their savings rate, while those so employed are having theirs depleted.