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That's an odd analysis. The reason there was no unemployment was because labor's bargaining power was very low. Similar to how if minimum wage and social safety
by mindslight 4y ago
That's an odd analysis. The reason there was no unemployment was because labor's bargaining power was very low. Similar to how if minimum wage and social safety nets were removed, unemployment would drop significantly.
It's also a terrible idea to pin the responsibility on the current trend, rather than the many trillions of dollars printed over the past few decades (culminating in Covid), that were mostly handed to Wall Street and friends. That was an extreme concentration of wealth, pulled directly from the edges where people are stuck transacting/saving in dollars. The reason it's not glaringly apparent is that technlogical productivity improvements compensate for it.
Interest rates existing again is better viewed as a correction from the past few decades of misallocation. I agree that the centralizers will gain on this part of the cycle, as they do with every change. But rather than condemn the current conditions (thus setting the stage for another cycle of looting), we should aim to hold them as they are and let the economy rebalance to favoring some saving rather than pure immediate consumption - especially in light of needing more environmental sustainability.
- somewhereoutth 4y ago> if minimum wage and social safety nets were removed, unemployment would drop significantly. An unsupported assertion I'd suggest. However, I think we can definitely say that removing worker protections leads to worse life outcomes for the poorest - and perhaps the richest too if we factor in rising crime due to inequality (compare US and EU). It may also reduce the size of the economy, the few remaining rich people don't need to actually spend much in aggregate (there is only so much food, furniture, foreign holidays etc they can consume).
- mindslight 4y agoI wasn't saying that as if it would be a good thing. Just that it would be closer to historical conditions where people were desperate to eat, and could be paid very little due to that desperation.