1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Meet the Press 7/24 (debt/journalism side)

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by KP, Jul 24, 2011.

  1. KP

    KP Active Member

    Caught a bit of Meet the Press this morning while White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley was on and just take this little nugget and put it toward the way we've seen companies with newspapers act...

    Just sayin'
     
  2. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    False comparison.

    If I own a pizza place that is struggling, my first move would not be to raise prices and simply assume I'd do better.

    This is what the Dems propose.
     
  3. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    But meanwhile, your pizza place is struggling because your prices aren't as high compared to other pizza places, and your customers are still not willing to spend their money despite the low prices.
     
  4. J Staley

    J Staley Member

    I don't think the strategy of the collective newspaper business has been to raise prices somehow. Mostly it's an endless cycle of cutting which seems to perpetuate itself because the earlier rounds of cuts made the product less attractive in the market.
     
  5. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Why did I know Baron would be the first guy to build on my analogy?
     
  6. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I agree that a business can't shrink itself to profitability.

    But, it's a bad comparison. They're not a business, and they acquire revenue in a completely different manner.

    A business can't just demand more money because it needs it. It has too earn it. It has to gain your trust. It has to work harder. It has to offer value.

    Government just wants more money. It doesn't want to do any of those things.
     
  7. BrianGriffin

    BrianGriffin Active Member

    False representation of what has happened. The dems have proposed a mix of cuts and tax raises. The republicans want only cuts. It's the equivalent of said pizza joint struggling, then cutting to the point where customers start walking in, only to be told they are out of pepperoni because they could not order enough to meet demand (in order to save costs).

    To me, Gannett is a corporate example of Republican economic policy at work. Cut costs, guaranteeing declining revenue, guaranteeing more cuts, guaranteeing a death spiral. It's depression economics.
     
  8. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    It's a pretty easy equation, we can cut budgets, but if debt really matters why wouldn't the GOP accept a 3-1 ratio of cuts to revenue?
    You would almost think the ratio is the other way around based on the GOPs reaction.
     
  9. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    It's pretty simple, really.

    The GOP believes that Congress won't be able to resist spending any new revenue. It's a trust issue, and based on past performance, it's justified. When has spending ever been cut -- even on an inflation adjusted basis?

    The GOP believes we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

    And, we've been promised spending cuts in the past in return for tax increases. Reagan & Bush 41 fell for it.

    Can you blame the right for trying to "starve the beast" when given a chance? Even the last budget deal snookered the right.
     
  10. J Staley

    J Staley Member

    I thought this discussion was about how the newspaper businesses can't cut itself to health?
     
  11. BrianGriffin

    BrianGriffin Active Member

    But you say a government can? Now I can understand if you are taxed high, you can cut taxes to increase taxable spending, thus increasing tax revenue over what you'd get with a high tax rate. But we are well past the point where that applies, as evidenced by the fact that the Bush cuts led to LOWER revenues.

    (average tax revenue as a percentage of GDP between 2001-08 -- I'm leaving off the recession years to be generous -- was 17.6 percent, well below the historic average of 18.5).

    So, in this instance, you can't cut taxes to raise revenue. So you just cut to cut, which inevitably will lead to underperformance -- just wait until cuts lead to sharp declines in infrastructure investment which limits incentives for private economic development -- meaning less revenues and more cuts.

    Your classic death spiral.
     
  12. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Still can be.

    Here's former Continental Airlines CEO on cost cutting (complete with another pizza analogy):

     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page