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> Everybody should have been asking for pay raises the last two years for at least enough to cover the inflation rate. And your employer reserves the "right" t

> Everybody should have been asking for pay raises the last two years for at least enough to cover the inflation rate. And your employer reserves the "right" to be ungrateful/not appreciate you/take a stance in negotiation to try to protect their bottom line and say "no". If inflation happens, then you ask your employer to give you a raise, and they say yes, and they then pass the difference along (increased payroll cost) to their customers through increased prices of goods and services, that creates more inflation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage-price_spiral https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage-price_spiral

crmd 3y ago
Wage-price spirals only happen when business owners refuse to adjust down their operating margins and instead pass the increased payroll costs on to their customers. Too much economic value is accruing to capital and not enough to labor. This is what needs to change.
- ryandrake 3y ago
  Also: If companies could increase profits by raising prices, they would do so, regardless of what their wages were. The whole "we'll pass along prices to consumers" threat is empty. If companies could simply raise prices, they would (and they do, when they can).
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    Isn't the same true with labor? If they can get more money for their work, they will ask for more money or quit and find a job that pays more? At least, that is what seems to have been happening for the last couple of years. The only problem with that is that finding a new job kind of sucks and is risky.
A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago
You know, as a much, much younger person I actually thought that there is not even a reason for raises ( I had no concept of inflation ) if you are doing the same thing over and over. Eventually, I saw just how much an average manager makes and I realized that it is literally a zero sum game. Management just gets a bigger slice if they manage to somehow bamboozle its workforce so there is a big incentive to do just that regardless of whether it sounds stupid or is even based on facts. More amusingly, I never saw a manager pass on an increase 'to not fuel inflation' further.
- MuffinFlavored 3y ago
  > More amusingly, I never saw a manager pass on an increase 'to not fuel inflation' further. From a morale perspective, working year after year at the same place for the same pay kind of sucks. How often do you hear people being responsible for less/taking on less responsibility over time?

crmd 3y ago

Wage-price spirals only happen when business owners refuse to adjust down their operating margins and instead pass the increased payroll costs on to their customers. Too much economic value is accruing to capital and not enough to labor. This is what needs to change.

ryandrake 3y ago
Also: If companies could increase profits by raising prices, they would do so, regardless of what their wages were. The whole "we'll pass along prices to consumers" threat is empty. If companies could simply raise prices, they would (and they do, when they can).
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  Isn't the same true with labor? If they can get more money for their work, they will ask for more money or quit and find a job that pays more? At least, that is what seems to have been happening for the last couple of years. The only problem with that is that finding a new job kind of sucks and is risky.

A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago

You know, as a much, much younger person I actually thought that there is not even a reason for raises ( I had no concept of inflation ) if you are doing the same thing over and over. Eventually, I saw just how much an average manager makes and I realized that it is literally a zero sum game. Management just gets a bigger slice if they manage to somehow bamboozle its workforce so there is a big incentive to do just that regardless of whether it sounds stupid or is even based on facts. More amusingly, I never saw a manager pass on an increase 'to not fuel inflation' further.

MuffinFlavored 3y ago
> More amusingly, I never saw a manager pass on an increase 'to not fuel inflation' further. From a morale perspective, working year after year at the same place for the same pay kind of sucks. How often do you hear people being responsible for less/taking on less responsibility over time?