James Sinegal Quotes

Inequality saps the economy by draining the buying power of Americans whose incomes have stagnated, forcing them to rely on debt to fund education, housing, and health care.

The person earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 isn't going out to eat at restaurants. They're not taking piano lessons. They're not going to the gym or the yoga studio. They're not sending mom flowers on Mother's day. What good is this person in the economy? If you raise it to $15 an hour, they're doing all of those things.

America's vast population of working poor can only get so poor before even Walmart is out of reach.

I look at the money I'm about to spend on myself and ask if IKEA's customers could afford it.

Compared to today's salaries, our cut was minuscule but it was very good for the time.

Does anyone really believe it is possible to make even the most basic ends meet on $5.15 an hour?

If workers have less money in their pockets to put food on the table, they will be spending less money; your economy will suffer.

It's very difficult for the middle class in America to keep up because of the inflationary pressure and the devaluation of the dollar.

Rent and the cost of essentials like food and child care are rising so fast that wages are not keeping up.

If consumers don't have the wherewithal to spend because all the money's going to the top, and the people at the top only spend a very small fraction of what they earn, then the economy is almost inevitably destined to slow.

Selling $500 shoes when you make $12 an hour is just an awkward economic juxtaposition.

How can anyone live off of minimum wage?

What's good for the financial industry probably isn't good for you.

While prices of goods continue to rise, American worker's wages remain stagnant.

Right now, every American is affected by high energy prices. Working families, small businesses and consumers across the country are feeling the pinch with no end in sight.

As society advances the standard of poverty rises.

Anyone who's tried to pay a heating bill, fill a prescription, or simply buy groceries knows all too well that the current minimum wage does not cut the mustard.

No person can maximize the American Dream on the minimum wage.

In New Orleans, where I'm from, the average household income, with two working parents, two kids, a dog and a little fence is $16,000 a year, so $15,000 for a movie sounds pretty good.

Raising the minimum wage means raising the living wage - and that's good news for Ohio.

If no man could become rich in Peru, no man could become poor.

High gas prices are eating away at consumer's disposal income and could lead to a further economic downturn, especially for those whose livelihood depend on gasoline and diesel fuel.

There are more and more products with fewer people able to consume them. We have to help those who don't have the economic stability to grow, or one day there will be very few who are able to buy what we're selling.

When we think of the state of the economy, we are not thinking in terms of money flow. We are thinking in terms of the effect on everyday lives of people.

I have never been a believer that nice clothes should only be for people with money.