Profits surge to 40-year high

MarketWatch.com (by Dow Jones) ^ | 3-30-06 | Rex Nutting

[BobS]

"But "there are a lot of 'ifs'," Bivens said."

If I go to work one Saturday at a coastal field in CA that grows asparagus for $ and say I will take 10% of my pickings for myself, and I will take $8 instead of $9 in this agreement, will I work harder or stand around BSing?

[SierraWasp]

ARE YOU SERIOUS???

Surely you jest in sourchasticly joking type manor, er somethin... Sheesh!!!

[MarkeyD]

Go here and read the anecdote at the bottom of the page.

[SierraWasp]

That was a mis-print! It was supposed to be... "But "there are a lot of 'f's'," Bivens said."

Now I'm so shallow I don't even have a clue what that aspharagus harvesting and BSing scenario you were tryin to lay on us was all about! What the heck was that all about???

[dalereed]

"labor compensation is up just 5.5%"

Someone is getting a lot more because construction wages have been stagnent or declining for 20 years.

[SierraWasp]

Ahhhhhhh So!!! Very screwtable!!! Clever Chinese sayings from Chairman Mao hisself!!! Hot TANG!!!

[NormsRevenge]

Are yew tryin ta say our fine Amurican corporashuns are runnin a little too rich??? Iszat whatcher sayin youngun???

--

I like to run my engines rich, not lean..

the sad thing is when they do ramp up, a lot of companies will be seeking the H1Bers and not some of us old dogs.. Oh well.

[oceanview]

not anymore.

with globalism, with access to foreign workers, and with the ability to have illegals and guest workers (soon) here in the US - you can forget about any significant upward wage pressures.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

WE are in the Rapture I tell you.....

By the way Forbes has a ranking for all the Corporations of the WORLD:

The World's 2000 Largest Public Companies

The Top Ten

1. Citigroup
2. General Electric
3. Bank of America
4. American Intl Group
5. HSBC Group
6. ExxonMobil
7. Royal Dutch/Shell Group
8. BP
9. JPMorgan Chase
10. UBS

[Mike Darancette]

Worst economy in 50 years. George Bush's fault.

[gogeo]

What Reagan used to call the politics of envy.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

France needs to take a hint.

[calljack]

they have.
Do you speak Spanish?

[NormsRevenge]

I am experienced at picking fruit, I have fruit trees in the backyard ,but alas, no habla. 8(

Im silicon valley based so unless i can forge a H1B visa, i'll be doing construction when I can

[RipSawyer]

Someone is getting a lot more because construction wages have been stagnent or declining for 20 years.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Yeah, I have a younger brother who just turned 50. He has worked construction for over thirty years. The last time I talked to him he said he has a problem trying to find work at the same wage he got in 1978. Not to mention the 1978 job had benefits, something which very few construction jobs offer.

[Dog Gone]

with globalism, with access to foreign workers, and with the ability to have illegals and guest workers (soon) here in the US - you can forget about any significant upward wage pressures.

It all depends. Do you have skills that are different from a peasant from latin america? If you are competing for a job in packing chickens for sale at grocery store chains, there isn't going to be much upward pressure on salaries there.

Can you design the plan for drilling an oil well in Texas? There are hundreds of companies who will gladly enter into a bidding war for your services.

[lewislynn]

Yeah, I have a younger brother who just turned 50. He has worked construction for over thirty years. The last time I talked to him he said he has a problem trying to find work at the same wage he got in 1978.

Your brother is approaching the age where no one is going to hire him unless he has something special to offer. At this point your brother would be better off finding his own niche in the trades as an independent contractor.

Usually in construction there are opportunities for "side jobs". He needs to take advantage of some of those and run with them building a reputation for himself...After a while his phone will be ringing off the hook...In construction, word of mouth is the only advertisement you need.

[lewislynn]

"It's a big puzzle," said Josh Bivens, an economist for the Economic Policy Institute. "If this is a knowledge economy, how come the brains aren't being compensated? Instead, the owners of physical capital are getting the rewards."

Maybe if Josh could see the ever increasing loaded containers of manufactured goods arriving and empty ones leaving he'd get a clue to why the, we're all gonna be CEO's, doctors and engineers "knowledge economy" is only working for the select few.

BTW, what happened to the service economy?...I guess it's gone to the Mexicans.

[SierraWasp]

Well, you sure put a nice ribbon on that thread!!!