Rebutting Claims in ‘State of Labor is Nothing to Celebrate’ Op-Ed

We appreciate Dave Clark’s heartfelt Labor Day reflections in the Midland Daily News on September 1, 2025, “State of labor is nothing to celebrate.”

Working families deserve more than slogans; they require a clear understanding of what drives wages, opportunities, and dignity at work.

Northwood University’s philosophy — which values individual freedom, personal responsibility, and the importance of moral law, and earned success — aims to foster prosperity for all through ethical free enterprise, not favoritism or expanded government control.

Consider the following:

1) Income Mobility and Growth
From the 1940s to the 1980s real incomes increased across the distribution, but gains skewed upward; meanwhile, absolute intergenerational mobility, the chances that kids earn more than their parents, fell from approximately 90% for the 1940 cohort to about 50% for those born in the 1980s. Mobility isn’t declining everywhere, but it is too low in many places and for many families. Any strategy for “living wages” must broaden participation in growth, not just raise averages.

2) Who pays federal income taxes?
Clark states the “rich don’t pay their fair share.” However, the most recent IRS data (2022) show U. S. income tax is highly progressive: the top 1% paid about 40% of all federal income taxes while earning approximately 22% of adjusted gross income; the bottom 50% paid a very small share.

This knowledge doesn’t settle debates over total tax burdens (payroll, state/local) or fairness as a moral concept but provides a factual basis to discuss future policy.

3) Education, Skills and Wages
Wages follow skills. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has shown significant declines in math and reading in American K-12 students since 2019. This is a clear indication that skill development is falling behind. Debates over executive pay won’t affect progress if our pipeline continues to decline. Targeted tutoring, more time on tasks, and proven curricula will surpass performative policies.

4) Illegal Immigration and Wages
Illegal immigration puts pressure on low-wage markets and public services; meanwhile lawful, skills-matched immigration can raise overall productivity. Economists find the long-term effects of immigration on native wages are generally small, with the biggest negative impacts on prior immigrants and low-skilled American workers; high-skill inflows tend to be complementary and support growth.

The evidence supports using enforcement and legal channels that align with the economy. Undoubtedly, illegal immigration has limited income mobility for many Americans at the bottom of the income scale, hindering them from gaining skills and achieving the American dream.

5) Regulations change incentives
Businesses don’t hire, invest, or raise pay in isolation; they respond to markets, policy changes and uncertainty. Empirical studies connect heavier federal regulatory loads to slower productivity and wage growth over time.

Last year saw an unprecedented rise in burdensome regulations. Overly burdensome regulations curtail or crush job growth, most often for the under-skilled and new to the job market.

6) Debt and Crowding-out
Federal debt now exceeds $37.31 trillion, with interest costs nearing the top of the budget. These are limited resources not being used to build factories, improve skills, or strengthen families’ finances. The more we allocate to debt, the less room there is for private investment and for policies that promote opportunity. In short, there’s a limited amount of capital available.

When the national debt grows, interest rates are higher than they would be, curbing growth opportunities, particularly for small firms. This isn’t partisan; both parties contributed to this mountain of lost opportunity. Consider that in 1980, the U.S. national debt-to-GDP ratio was 34.66%, and today it stands at 123.39%. A serious income mobility agenda must embrace fiscal discipline, pro-growth tax design, and regulatory clarity.

7) High-tech punishes low skills
Automation and task-reducing technology have contributed to employment polarization for decades. When governments sharply increase mandated wage floors like the recent $20 fast-food minimum wage in California, some firms respond with kiosks, re-engineering, and slower hiring. The lesson is clear: if you increase the price of low-skill labor without boosting productivity, you push the adoption of technology. Lasting wage gains come from hard work, skills and enterprise creation, not more government mandates.

In his editorial, Dave Clark was especially critical of Walmart and the wages they pay. What he failed to note is most employees who work for Walmart are part-time and view it as a transitory job. Clark also does not note in addition to wages, both full and part-time Walmart employees may purchase the company’s stock at a 15% discount after one year of employment … and many do.

8) Corporate governance
Proposals to allow the government to dictate private board composition are often sold to impact wages. However, the evidence shows only small or mixed effects on wages, productivity, and firm value, not the transformative gains proponents claim.

If the goal is income mobility, it is better to eliminate state and federal barriers to new firm entry, capital formation, and worker upskilling than to politicize boardrooms.

The Northwood Idea
Northwood’s vision is not about “unfettered markets.” It champions ethical free-enterprise leadership grounded in moral values: freedom, private property, personal responsibility, the rule of law, voluntary exchange, and earned success. These principles are central to The Northwood Idea and reflected throughout the Northwood’s curriculum.

Government’s role is to protect rights, such as contracts, property, and public safety, not to expand political control over businesses. When government overreaches, it distorts prices, discourages investment, and limits upward mobility.

The results are clear: states with high taxes and heavy regulation, like California, have seen workers and businesses leave, while states with greater economic freedom, like Texas, have attracted new residents and opportunities.

The Northwood Idea is simple: keep government focused on rights, maintain open and ethical markets, and allow families, workers, and entrepreneurs to rise based on merit.

The Dialectic
We share David Clark’s concern for struggling families and agree that executive pay deserves scrutiny. But lasting prosperity comes from expanding opportunity, not dividing workers and employers or growing government.

Key priorities include:
• Restoring skills through tutoring and proven education reforms.
• Aligning immigration with labor needs through legal, skills-matched pathways.
• Streamlining regulation to protect rights while encouraging investment.
• Practicing fiscal discipline to reduce debt and free capital.
• Building opportunity employments engines like new businesses, apprenticeships, and tax simplicity.

We work, learn, and persevere to create value, wealth and earn success for ourselves and others.

This is The Northwood Idea in action: freedom with responsibility, enterprise guided by ethics, and policies that expand opportunity so more Americans can rise, thrive, and succeed.

This piece originally was posted by the Midland Daily News.