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Œl?r P ortlan ò (Observer
March 19, 2014
New Prices
Effective
May 1,2010
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CH G
$45.00
A sm all distance/travel charge
m ay be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: I sm all H allway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
Other Services)-. $25.00
Wall Street Bonuses vs. the Minimum Wage
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00 Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool):
$40.00Minimum
Evaluating the
economic benefits
by S arah
A nderson
Purveyors of Ferraris
Additional $ 10.00 each area
and h ig h -e n d S w iss
(Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying)
watches keep their fingers
crossed toward the end of
UPHOLSTERY
each calendar year, hop
CLEANING
ing that the big Wall Street
Sofa: $69.00
banks will be generous with their annual
Loveseat: $49.00
cash bonuses.
Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139
New figures show that the bonus bonanza
of 2013 didn’t disappoint. According to the
Chair or Recliner:
New York State Comptroller’s office, Wall
$25 - $49
Street firms handed out $26.7 billion in bo
Throw Pillows (With
nuses to their 165,200employees last year, up
Other Services)'. $5.00
15 percent over the previous year. That’s
their third-largest haul on record.
ADDITIONAL
That money will no doubt boost sales of
SERVICES
luxury goods. Just imagine how much greater
Area & Oriental Rug
the economic benefit would be if that same
Cleaning
amount of money had gone into the pockets
Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning
of minimum-wage workers.
Deodorizing & Pet
The $26.7 billion Wall Streeters pock
□dor Treatment
eted in bonuses would cover the cost of
Spot & Stain
more than doubling the paychecks for all of
Removal Service
the 1,085,000 Americans who work full
Scotchguard Protection
time at the current federal minimum wage
Minor Water Damage
of $7.25 per hour.
Services
And boosting their pay in that way would
SEE CURRENT FLYER
give our economy much more bang for the
FOR ADDITIONAL
buck. That’s because low-wage workers
PRICES & SERVICES
tend to spend nearly every dollar they make
Call for Appointment
to meet their basic needs. The wealthy can
afford to squirrel away a much greater
(503) 281-3949
share of their earnings.
Heavily Soiled Area:
%
When low-wage workers spend their
money at the grocery store or on utility bills,
this cash ripples through the economy.
According to my new report, every extra
dollar going into the pockets of low-wage
workers adds about $1.21 to the national
economy. Every extra dollar a high-income
American makes, by contrast, only adds
about 39 cents to the gross domestic prod
uct (GDP).
And these pennies add up.
If the $26.7 billion Wall Streeters pulled
in on their bonuses last year had instead
gone to m inim um w age w orkers, our
economy would be expected to grow by
about $32.3 billion — more than triple the
$10.4 billion boost expected from the Wall
Street bonuses.
This immense GDP differential only
speaks to one price we pay for Wall Street’s
bonus reward culture. Huge bonuses, the
2008 financial industry meltdown made
clear, create an incentive for high-risk be
haviors that endanger the entire economy.
And yet, nearly four years after passage
of the Dodd-Frank financial reform, regula
tors still haven’t implemented the modest
provisions in that law to prohibit financial
industry pay that encourages “inappropri
ate risk.’’ Time will tell whether last year’s
Wall Street bonuses were based on high-
risk gambles that will eventually blow up in
our faces.
Low-wage jobs, on the other hand, en
danger nothing. The people who harvest,
prepare, and serve our food, the folks who
keep our hotels clean, and the workers who
care for our elderly all provide crucial ser
vices. They deserve much higher rewards.
Sarah Anderson directs the Global
Economy Project at the Institute for
Policy Studies.
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Patrick John Sweeney, P.C.
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd, Portland, Oregon
Portland: (503) 244-2080
Facsimile. (503) 244-2084
Hillsoboro: (503) 244-2081
Email: Sweeney @PDXI .awyercom