Also: * Austerity (e.g. leaving pothole fixing in portland to anarchists) - which reduces aggregate demand for labor, and thus reduces overall wages. * Benefi

Also: * Austerity (e.g. leaving pothole fixing in portland to anarchists) - which reduces aggregate demand for labor, and thus reduces overall wages. * Benefits cuts - which increases low wage workers' reliance upon their wage income, and reduces their negotiating leverage. This is why certain politicians are extremely concerned about "fiscal prudence" when it comes to government spending on wages, pensions or benefits, but lose their sense of fiscal prudence as soon as the topic is tax cuts or military spending. They're mainly just trying to inadvertently push corporate wage bills down.