A long, long time ago Henry Ford greatly annoyed his fellow industrialists. He doubled the pay of his manual workers. History has shown that Henry Ford was not stupid, so what was he thinking? He simply wanted his workers to be able to buy the cars they were making!

Almost 100 hundred years later, I ask you this question: If you hold down the minimum wage, if you outsource jobs overseas, if you reduce the number of jobs, where will you find people with money to buy your products and services?

I find it amusing, and a little disturbing, when business leaders complain that people are not spending enough to boost the economy when the reason people are not spending is found in the short-sighted decisions of those same business leaders.

I miss Henry Ford.

About the Author

James Henry McIntosh is a Chief Nonsense Officer. He advises executives on dealing with nonsense at work in the hope that this will make them, their teams and their organizations more effective. When this gets the better of him, he retreats to writing and public speaking until his confidence returns. He has been repeating this cycle for more than 20 years without seriously hurting anyone. Sign up for free newsletter on http://www.nonsenseatwork.com