This morning, Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) tweeted out his support for efforts to unionize the video game industry. He did so in a fashion truly appropriate for the man—one that made it clear that he doesn’t always grasp basic economics:
The video game industry made $43 billion in revenue last year. The workers responsible for that profit deserve to collectively bargain as part of a union. I'm glad to see unions like @IATSE and the broader @GameWorkers movement organizing such workers. https://t.co/Ia5gMG2v0w
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 18, 2019
Ex-officer accused in New Orleans mass shooting plot released without charges
Lifelong Lib Chris Matthews Goes Scorched Earth on Far-Left Dems, DSA Members: ‘I’m Not with This Crowd’
Convicted rapist who preyed on women at America’s top party school faces reckoning after courthouse dash
LA Lakers Sold to Ex-Disney CEO and Jared Kushner’s Brother for Record-Breaking Price
Texas judge accused of ‘doxxing’ political critic faces federal lawsuit, growing push to oust him from office
Unearthed interview exposes Dem senator’s past support for reparations: ‘There is a debt unpaid’
Always Watch the Eyes: Video Shows DSA Co-Chair Fall Apart When Asked Exactly Who She Wants to Tax More
DOJ Busts Massive International Sham Marriage Scheme, 1,000 Weddings to ‘Fraudulently Obtain Immigration Status’
FBI ran secret operation to extinguish Biden family foreign influence scandal: Declassified documents
Fox News Poll: New matchup, same result: Maine Senate race stays locked
Here’s who could replace White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt
New York Social Services Worker Charged With Issuing Multiple Benefit Cards to Herself
Hasan Piker cheers Mamdani aide going ‘beast mode’ with ‘impoverish the White middle-class’ remark
Enough Feting of Fetterman
Repeat offender sucker-punches woman in city where Ukrainian refugee was stabbed by career criminal
In the tweet, Sanders confuses “revenue” with “profit.” This is not an insignificant mistake, but it’s one that is common in reporting about large American corporations. All too often, reporters talk about how much money a company takes in without offering any analysis of that company’s expenses. Amazon, for example, despite massive revenues has only recently begun making an actual profit. In the Time story that Sanders links to, writer Alana Semuels similarly fails to differentiate between revenue and profit when covering the efforts to organize.
It’s true that the game industry did bring in $42 billion in revenue last year from customers in the United States (and nearly $140 billion worldwide). But revenue is the money a company brings in before deducting its expenses, like, for example, workers’ wages. So, in reality, video game industry workers did get a cut of those billions. It’s only after such workers are paid (and other expenses are deducted) that we can talk about profit.
Sanders, of course, has a long history of failing to grasp the basics of market economics. He frequently sees marketplace choices as a threat, even as they open avenues and opportunities for our poorest citizens or provide all of us with ever improving mass entertainment.
Story cited here.
