Tags: Bill Gross | income | inequality | capitalism

Pimco's Gross: Growing Income Inequality Threatens Capitalism Itself

By    |   Thursday, 19 June 2014 03:12 PM EDT

Count Bill Gross, chief investment officer at Pimco, as one of those who is extremely concerned about the growing inequality in income.

"It's a fundamental factor that will influence not only the U.S. economy, but global economies going forward," he told Yahoo.

"It will be destabilizing."

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In an illustration of how typical workers are suffering in this sub-par economic recovery, real average hourly earnings fell 0.1 percent in the year through May.

"Labor and capital have to share in the rewards of a productive economy, and for the past 25 years, labor has gotten the short end of the stick," Gross said.

"Capital has benefitted as profit margins have accelerated to historic highs. That's good for stockholders."

He supports increasing the minimum wage and raising taxes on the wealthy to solve the problem.

"Ultimately wage earners have to earn a decent wage, or else capitalism can't continue in a productive way," Gross said.

Plenty of economists disagree with him when it comes to the minimum wage and taxes.

Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, which includes Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, says that recent minimum wage increases have exacerbated youth unemployment.

Seattle has led the way with a rise to $15 an hour. Michigan, Vermont and Maryland also lifted their minimum wage recently.

"Various states and municipalities have increased their minimum wage, thereby increasing the cost of employing inexperienced workers," Puzder writes in The Wall Street Journal.

"The bottom line on labor: make something less expensive and businesses will use more of it. Make something more expensive and businesses will use less of it."

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Count Bill Gross, chief investment officer at Pimco, as one of those who is extremely concerned about the growing inequality in income.
Bill Gross, income, inequality, capitalism
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2014-12-19
Thursday, 19 June 2014 03:12 PM
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