3 ms·

If every company had a policy to increase wages by at least the CPI, would it not become much more difficult to stop a wage-price spiral?

falcolas 4y ago
Bluntly, who cares? It's better than people being forced to work multiple jobs just to provide the basic necessities for life. Employee wages are already lagging behind every measure of a employee's worth (productivity, revenue per employee, etc) over time... why do we think it's good policy to fuck them over even more? Morals matter, even for businesses. Perhaps especially for businesses, given the power imbalance in their favor over ordinary citizens.
- unmole 4y ago
  > Bluntly, who cares? Literally everyone should care about an inflationary spiral.
  - falcolas 4y ago
    Can it really be that much worse than people who are working full time or more being unable to afford things like food and a roof?
    - unmole 4y ago
      Bluntly, yes.
- rendang 4y ago
  There's a difference between policies to increase working-class wages over the long term, & a tight immediate feedback loop. Runaway inflation is a serious deal Plus if everyone is auto-raising every employee, that would include lots of well to do professionals, not just those struggling
  - falcolas 4y ago
    > Plus if everyone is auto-raising every employee, that would include lots of well to do professionals, not just those struggling Because no professionals are struggling? Given how some 80% of people identify as living month to month, and fewer have 3 or 6 months of emergency funds saved up, that seems like it's absolutely not the case. And frankly, everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room - corporate profits which are at absurd levels. Dial those back, and suddenly you don't have a feedback loop, since you can increase pay without having to raise prices. But Marx forbid we slow the growth of shareholder wealth to help society at large.

falcolas 4y ago

Bluntly, who cares? It's better than people being forced to work multiple jobs just to provide the basic necessities for life. Employee wages are already lagging behind every measure of a employee's worth (productivity, revenue per employee, etc) over time... why do we think it's good policy to fuck them over even more? Morals matter, even for businesses. Perhaps especially for businesses, given the power imbalance in their favor over ordinary citizens.

unmole 4y ago
> Bluntly, who cares? Literally everyone should care about an inflationary spiral.
- falcolas 4y ago
  Can it really be that much worse than people who are working full time or more being unable to afford things like food and a roof?
  - unmole 4y ago
    Bluntly, yes.
rendang 4y ago
There's a difference between policies to increase working-class wages over the long term, & a tight immediate feedback loop. Runaway inflation is a serious deal Plus if everyone is auto-raising every employee, that would include lots of well to do professionals, not just those struggling
- falcolas 4y ago
  > Plus if everyone is auto-raising every employee, that would include lots of well to do professionals, not just those struggling Because no professionals are struggling? Given how some 80% of people identify as living month to month, and fewer have 3 or 6 months of emergency funds saved up, that seems like it's absolutely not the case. And frankly, everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room - corporate profits which are at absurd levels. Dial those back, and suddenly you don't have a feedback loop, since you can increase pay without having to raise prices. But Marx forbid we slow the growth of shareholder wealth to help society at large.