The Economy

I wonder why no one thought of that?

It might have something to do with the fact that we have millions more of job openings than we have people who are looking for jobs (which is the case -- look at the JOLTS data).

I can get into all the reasons why (and how we are reaping what we sowed), but it's a waste of time at this point.

Also, higher labor costs = higher prices. That brings a number of other forces into play (many of them now due to how our government tries to price fix the markets for things). Over the last 2 years or so, we unleashed so much consumer price inflation so quickly with the prices of so many things causing shocks, that the piece of those higher prices a severe labor shortage is causing has already caused strife in a variety of ways. It's sometimes not as easy as just jacking up wages and raising prices. Producers try all kinds of things, first, to avoid those rising prices. ... because higher prices have an impact on demand for what they are selling.

Markets (including labor markets) want to find an equilibrium. But when you get sharp moves the way we have gotten, it's usually a messy process getting there as people figure out how to best deal with it.

 

You know all the strikes and threats of strikes we are seeing right now as a daily occurence?

We are going to see wages rising across a number of industries as they resolve themselves. Living expenses have risen so dramatically and wages are not keeping up.

As that excerbates a wage-price spiral and America goes further down the tubes. ... You'll be there with narratives about how "capital" screws "labor" like that is what has made a mess of the country and put millions of Americans into worsening economic circumstances.

This is why things have gotten so bad. Populist narratives have led to a lot of stupidity. ... and then we get people blaming the worsening of the mess the stupidity causes on everything except the stupidity.

 

Don't accept a wage you aren't happy with if you have the ability (i.e. the leverage) to earn more.

That may not seem simple to you. ... but it's the reality we all live with.

When you have a buyer and a seller (for example, someone selling their labor, someone who may want to hire them), all any of us should be asking for is voluntary exchange. Don't like what someone offers you because you can do better. ... don't take that job. That is the real arbiter of "fair."