Re: NYC Transit Strike - OVER

Patrick1765@xxxxxxx wrote: 
TJVI870 wrote:

Union Votes to End Strike 

Too late, the damage has been done.  Christmas shopping season is
almost over and businesses will take a huge financial hit.

"Businesses"? Which businesses? Sure, some Manhattan stores and restaurants were affected by the strike but I've never quite understood the logic behind this and other typical Wall Street/economic expert claims during crises when money/income/profits are "lost". Did the money that was in the pockets of those consumers who didn't make it into the city for shopping just disappear? Or did will go to OTHER businesses (Amazon, suburban malls, gift cards, etc)? Did all those diamond rings that went unsold just evaporate? Even those "lost" wages for people who took off- did the boss burn the money when they didn't show up or did he just keep it in the bank? People may not have eaten in restaurants, but they ate something, somewhere else- they didn't starve.

On one hand, we're supposed to feel sorry for expensive restaurants that most of us are too poor or too smart to eat at, to moan about the "financial hit" Fifth Avenue jewelry stores that might not even unlock the doors for us have taken, but called "bleeding heart liberals without an understanding of basic economics and the glory of unfettered capitalism" if we mention the mom & pop stores that Wal-Mart puts out of business.

Sure, the strike upset/rearranged the economy of NYC. (Just as Katrina and other hurricanes, 3 day snow blizzards, etc., do elsewhere). But all that money that Bloomberg claimed the strike cost the city- well, isn't that just a matter of "redistributing" the money? All that OT the cops made- aren't THEY gonna spend that money? All the money the taxis made- aren't they gonna buy MORE this year? (Hell, throw in the money people saved on mass transit <g> or the unexpected uptick in sales of sweatshop-produced running shoes.)

Everytime I see those long lines at Home Depot or grocery chains in Florida before a storm hits and the newscaster moaning about how much this will "cost"- I gotta figure that when something costs someone, someone ELSE is getting paid. Home Depot doesn't make a mint on plywood, battery & generator sales? Home Depot employees don't make a lot of overtime selling and loading that plywood?

[And, another thing- what do those Floridians do WITH that plywood after the storm? Don't they label it ("front kitchen window") and store in for the next storm (that is, if the shed is still in the backyard)? Why do they always have to buy NEW plywood?]

Even political campaigns that now cost millions- don't a lot of businesses and their employees make a lot of that money? Isn't that GOOD for that segment of the economy (newspapers, printshops, button makers, local TV stations, indie cameramen, shops that make the wire stands for lawn signs...).

As someone whose been negatively affected by the so-called "natural" changes in the economy that Wall Street LOVES (outsourcing, imports, etc.) I don't quite understand how OTHER economic crises don't have "winners and losers", just losers.



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