Synchronicity or Synchronized Swimming?

A Look At This Week's Headlines

Headline #1

Monday, April 23, 2006--USA Today

Ford will cut 25,000 to 30,000 jobs, close 14 plants

From the article, "Ford's earnings marked the third straight year of profitability. But the $2 billion, or $1.04 per share, in net income was still down 42% from $3.5 billion, or $1.73 a share, in 2004."

Headline #2

Monday, April 23, 2006--Time Magazine hits newstands

On the Cover: Bill Ford Has Big Ideas About How to Save His Company--and the Endangered U.S. Auto Industry. How He's Trying to Give Motown Back It's Mojo!

Inside Headline: CAN THIS MAN SAVE THE AMERICAN AUTO INDUSTRY? PART REBEL, PART PRINCE, BILL FORD, BELIEVES A GREEN REVOLUTION CAN FIX HIS FAMILY'S TROUBLED COMPANY. BUT CAN HE MAKE CARS YOU'LL CRAVE??

Blogger note: I waited all week to hear someone comment on Time's puff piece, but I've waited in vain. If you've heard any commentary, let me know. This is a good illustration of the nature of the system--if a company's not busy growing, it's busy dying, and that's the real factor at work here that explains much more than greed.

Meanwhile, today from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute:

"Within the top fifth of families, the wealthiest families enjoyed the highest income growth over the past two decades. In the 11 states that are large enough to permit this calculation, the incomes of the top 5 percent of families rose between 66 percent and 132 percent during this period. This is faster than the income growth among the top fifth of families as a whole in these states— and much faster than the income growth among the bottom fifth of families in these states, which ranged from 11 percent to 24 percent."

Time knows where its bread is buttered.