Obama on why income inequality has skyrocketed

Watch the president give his perspective on why the economy has become so good for corporations even as it’s become so bad for their workers.

[davidogan]

He seemed to be somewhat oddly objective as a third person observing the entire situation unfold from a distance. Like a history professor. And he seemed passively resigned to the fact that the situation is the way it is and can't be changed.

[vaibhavgupta]

I have to say this is the future of media/news/etc.

[bessyxyz]

I honestly think American citizens can use re-training. Some jobs won't come back... not because of cheap labor elsewhere in the world... it's because of automation. If you could be trained for a second or third career, you can fill positions that have had shortages before and the companies then would have to hire within the country, because finally the talent is available within.

[DavidSaintloth]

He nails every major one showing he intimately knows what the issues are (would have been hilarious to see Romney, Palin or Bush II answer these question, it would be like asking a child why the sky is blue by comparison)...if only he had a congress that was willing to work with him to fix them. Further:
"If you had a corporate culture that felt a sense of place and commitment so that the CEO was in Pittsburgh or was in Detroit and felt obliged, partly because of social pressure but partly because they felt a real affinity toward the community, to reinvest in that community and to be seen as a good corporate citizen. Today what you have is quarterly earning reports, compensation levels for CEOs that are tied directly to those quarterly earnings."
Which is his kind way of saying that executives are getting paid disproportionately for their contributions to the company bottom line while the people who are doing the bulk of the work are not. Executive compensation is gone to obscene give away levels where even with absolute failure people recently hired are getting golden parachutes of millions of dollars. It's an incestuous system of country club membership sharing corporate swingers...a mutual fuck club requiring some known and unknown secret handshakes (or "right" hands in the first place) to get in.

[sircullars]

Conservatives would hear this and still think Trump is smarter than Obama

[danielmiller]

This man emanates intelligence and respect. Now go listen to /any/ current presidential candidate. I am ashamed of what is to come.

[QuantumBraced]

I'm pretty sure Trump doesn't know 95% of the words Obama used in that segment.

[ghffrsfygdhfjkjiysdz]

When corporations pretend to pay fair wages, the employees pretend to work and the progress stops shortly thereafter.

[Kakashikewl]

Where do you get your music from, Vox team? What's the name of this song, if I may ask? It's great. So fitting. Also unique to Vox videos. It feels like Vox.

[georgejaneiro]

They must have edited out the part where Obama says that all the lobbyists in his administration have also contributed to income inequality. And the part where he lays some of the blame on himself and his fellow corporatist democrats must have also ended up on the editing room floor.

[YureWelcomeWorld]

"We don't resent their success." No, but I, and most Americans, do resent their exploitation of the American worker and legal system. The 'globalization' that he's referring to is a better way of saying sending jobs overseas. Which Obama fought for in the TPP. Obama's policies have done nothing but protect the neoliberal agenda, ensuring that the rich stay rich, and the poor stay poor. It's amazing that a man that is part of the problem is describing the problem.

[TheActiveAssault]

Well, you certainly skyrocketed in popularity...

[gastromacho]

Obama is really smart.... even looked at the history 100 years and over back. Bright guy.

[logankdavis]

As Obama’s income completely skyrocketed while he did 0 for the middle class. This is rich

[henhen]

would it be unconstitutional to put in place a law that required companies to pay their employees a wage that is proportional to executives in terms of change. so let's say executives saw their salary increase by 15% so their workers have to also receive 15% more. I don't know, just hearing about all these executives giving themselves a bigger pay check by giving their workers smaller ones seems like it's a problem today. one thing I couldn't believe is that inflation actually helps rich people do this. if they pay their workers the same amount while the dollar is getting inflated, but they are still charging more for their product they are effectively paying their workers less.

[xxxGammaRay]

Income inequality comes from greed. Point blank. No other way around it. No "gray" area. Greedy people, that's it.

[syrtil]

Great work once again. Visualizations and design fantastic (although I found the music distracting).

[TinRapper]

This man has done alot. He has done well, better than Bush. If you want even more, vote for Bernie.

[smokedoggxxl]

he knew all this and still sold us down the river for wall street money

[drevilatwork]

Youtube peps... please stop with the stupid graphics. They are distracting! If the man says powergrid, the viewers get it, you don't have to draw every other word that's spoken