Economy 52,843 Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 22 minutes ago, Eriq said: The reality is, at least here in the United States, wages never kept up with inflation. So the argument that wages CAUSE inflation is so ludicrous. It’s not what caused the labor shortage or supply chain issue and it’s not what set off the recent inflation. If the US is anything like most of the developed world (a lot of "American problems" are really shared by most of 1st World Nations) its not so much that wages didnt keep up with inflation itself its more like wages didnt keep up with cost of living Cost of living and inflation are closely related but not the same thing despite often being confused as such Theres dynamics to cost of living that dont show up in CPI and thats why inflation rate alone doesnt tell u the whole story of peoples falling purchasing power in life Cost of living has outpaced inflation and because inflation is the prefered measurement (since its easier to measure a more precise number) thats where a lot of economists or politicians downplay the deterioration of the poor and middle class Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCgaga 4,345 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 INFLATION IS A CONSTANT!!! Do some of you really thing prices on any particular good have stays the same in the past two decades, while the the minimum wage has stayed the samE for that same period? Really? Prices will continue to rise due to greed. Wages have been staying low, due to greed. The upper class has almost destroyed the middle class, and some of you have the Audacity to say higher wages will somehow cause more inflation. Inflation hasn’t slowed down regardless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Economy 52,843 Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 4 minutes ago, NCgaga said: INFLATION IS A CONSTANT!!! Do some of you really thing prices on any particular good have stays the same in the past two decades, while the the minimum wage has stayed the samE for that same period? Really? Prices will continue to rise due to greed. Wages have been staying low, due to greed. The upper class has almost destroyed the middle class, and some of you have the Audacity to say higher wages will somehow cause more inflation. Inflation hasn’t slowed down regardless. Higher wages do cause inflation. They just arent the only reason nor are they necessairily proportional My OP is not contradicting any of the realities ur saying or discounting them The inflation rate has a complex web of many factors that affect it which includes wages but its just 1 piece of the puzzle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PartySick 172,477 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 1 hour ago, Gagaloo911 said: Exactly. I really can't at those who buy into the narrative that wages can't rise and believe these things that literally keep them in poor jobs with stagnant and unlivable wages. To think that wages shouldn't rise even though prices of goods and materials are going to regardless is just ignorant. How would we afford anything if wages didn't go up when prices do? Make it make sense luv! Yeah, the fact that productivity, costs, and corporate profits have sky rocketed for decades while wages stagnated kinda proves they're not all that linked. We can afford to pay people more without doubling the price of goods. Hell, by the end of this year, the lowest paid employee at my store will be making $15 an hour and the only stuff going up in price is the stuff that's being affected by production and transport issues due to the pandemic. I know that's anecdotal at best but still. Whimsical bitch Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Economy 52,843 Posted January 10, 2022 Author Share Posted January 10, 2022 5 minutes ago, PartySick said: Yeah, the fact that productivity, costs, and corporate profits have sky rocketed for decades while wages stagnated kinda proves they're not all that linked. We can afford to pay people more without doubling the price of goods. Hell, by the end of this year, the lowest paid employee at my store will be making $15 an hour and the only stuff going up in price is the stuff that's being affected by production and transport issues due to the pandemic. I know that's anecdotal at best but still. They are related still. In the short term rapid changes to wages can influence inflation considerably its just that theres other factors too to the inflation rate as well that dont relate directly to wages (and not all business costs too such as changes to productivity which we both have mentioned) The way i view it is not so much that rising wages dont pull up inflation... its more like thats not the only factor. And since when rising wages are the predominant reason for inflation productivity and efficiency gains tend to come with it, then usually the inflation rate is not fully equivalant to it because the cost to produce goods rises less than the wage gains per unit of output which means u still get a net positive gain in peoples wages purchasing power When its the other way around, wages chasing inflation instead of inflation chasinf wages (as has been for decades) wages purchasing power tends to be sluggish Theres also another thing i mentioned. The issue isnt just wages keeping up with inflation itself because by that measure alone they mostly have... but inflation is not the same as cost of living. Inflation is a factor of cost of living but not the only one which makes comparing inflation and wages alone extremely misleading Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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