While small businesses closed their doors and people flocked to food banks to feed their families, the money just kept rolling in for the richest Pennsylvanians during the pandemic.
Eleven of the state’s billionaires collectively raked in an additional $12.4 billion in the past 17 months, according to a new report.
The net worth of Michael Rubin, executive chairman of sports merchandiser Fanatics, rose from $2.9 billion to $7.9 billion. The net worth of Thomas Tull, an investment entrepreneur and former film producer, rose from $1.2 billion to $3 billion. The net worth of beer baron Richard Yuengling Jr. rose a tad, from $1.1 billion to $1.17 billion.
Good for them. What’s sad is that while they prospered, so many other people suffered.
Small businesses, the engine of our economy, haven’t bounced back. As of June, small business revenue was down more than 30% from where it was before the pandemic.
Those at the bottom of the economic ladder — people earning less than $27,000 — continue to be jobless at a higher rate than anyone else. Their employment rate has dropped nearly 20%.
The figures come from a report published Wednesday by the Keystone Research Center, an independent, nonpartisan research and policy organization in Harrisburg. Its goal is to “broaden public discussion on strategies to achieve a more prosperous and equitable Pennsylvania economy.”
The report offers plenty of material for discussion.
It could have been titled: “COVID-19 exposes how crappy Pennsylvania’s economy is for a lot of people.”
The question is: What are we going to do about it?
We can do things, you know.
I don’t agree with all of the recommendations in Wednesday’s report. But many have merit.
The Keystone Research Center calls for raising the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which Pennsylvania still follows, to $15 and indexing it to inflation. I’ve called several times for increasing the wage, though I’m not convinced it should rise to $15, at least not immediately.
The report calls for legislation to be passed for the federal government to promote the right for workers to organize.
It points out that when union membership was stronger decades ago, the share of income going to the top 1% of earners fell — meaning more money was spread to others. Makes sense to me. I’m hoping that’s going to pay off for me personally, as my co-workers and I at The Morning Call voted in 2019 to be represented by The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America. Negotiations on our first contract are ongoing.
The report calls for the state and federal government to continue pumping money into the economy, including Pennsylvania spending the billions in federal coronavirus aid that it banked in this year’s budget.
Continuing targeted grants and other assistance is a good plan. Small businesses are going to need help for a while. So will nursing homes and day cares. Renters and landlords need help, too — those programs have been dismal failures so far and should continue to be tweaked until they work.
But we are beyond the point where governments should be giving money to those who don’t need it through additional rounds of stimulus checks. We should be done with federal bonuses on unemployment benefits, too. The economy is open. Everyone who wants to work should be able to find work.
Those unemployment bonuses end Saturay.
Critics will say there should be no reason for so many low-wage earners to be out of work. They will point to the “hiring” signs you see at nearly every restaurant and store. They’ve accused people of being lazy and staying home to collect unemployment that’s been padded by federal bonuses, first $600 and week and then $300.
I suspect there might be a slight increase in applicants when the bonus ends. But I don’t believe loads of people were sitting home collecting government money because they were lazy.
A lot of people figured out during COVID-19 that it’s just not worth the struggle to work for pitiful wages in jobs with no benefits or opportunity for advancement. They were barely scraping by as it was. It wasn’t worth the hassle of finding and paying for child care, taking multiple buses, working multiple jobs and working odd hours.
Some of them found better-paying jobs or went back to school. Others just gave up.
Wednesday’s report details what it describes as the history of “savage inequalities” in our state and national economy.
The share of total income collected by the top 1% of earners (about one-fifth of all income) and the top 10% (nearly one-half of all income) are at or near the highest ever.
We shouldn’t hold it against billionaires for what they make. Many of them worked hard to get where they are. Many of them also are generous and give back to their communities.
But we need to build an economy where everyone can be a winner, even during the most difficult times.
Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 610-820-6582 or paul.muschick@mcall.com
