Replies to post #127370 on Savvy Trades and Investments

[gilead23]

Totally. It was a shame we didn't put a 90% tax on mechanized farm equipment 100 years ago. Look at the jobs and prosperity we could have had if we had done the sensible thing and forced people to continue to farm with Oxen. Life was way better before automation when a shirt cost 3 months wages.

[stevhoff]

I couldn't see taxing companies for laying off people but a tax on robots might be needed, but that would be taxing business investment. Not a good thing. If the remaining employees at WMT would at least get a livable wage rather than having to rely on foodstamps, that would be good. How do you view the situation where 10-15% of their workforce has to rely on SNAP while the profits WMT generates has made the Walton family billionaires? Is it right to say that the gov't has basically subsidized WMT's profits? And its not just them, AMZN,HD,TGT are other examples were a significant percentage of the workforce get paid so little that they qualify for gov't benefits like SNAP. California tries to eliminate that with gigher minimum wages but then they put people out of work especially in the fast food industry and look at what you have to pay for a burger now.( Actually I just hear about the burger prices, I never go to those places. I did get a pizza from DPZ a while back but generally fast food is something I avoid.)