Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by SoftTalker 97 days ago
Henry Ford (allegedly a Capitalist) thought he should pay his employees enough that they could afford to buy the cars his company produced.

Businesses ultimately need customers. In a world where AI does all the work, there will be no buyers.
2 comments
opo 97 days ago
It is amazing how that bit of corporate PR is still being quoted over 100 years later. In reality, Ford had huge turnover problems with his workers - one estimate is over 370% annual turnover. One way to help prevent turnover is to pay more, and it solved the problem. (Even so, the base pay was still actually $2.30 and to get the extra $2.70 you had to abstain from alcohol, keep your home clean, etc.)

https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/henry-ford-implements-5...

link
heavyset_go 97 days ago
Read Citigroup's plutonomy paper: https://www.sourcewatch.org/images/b/bc/CITIGROUP-MARCH-5-20...

The strategy for institutional investors is to invest in servicing the needs of the already rich, at the expense of investing in companies that serve working people. The former is much more profitable than the latter, and the latter is becoming less profitable over time.

link
SoftTalker 97 days ago
The rich are supported by the working class. If there is no more working class, the world that the rich enjoy will collapse, along with their riches.
link