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Real wage losses are at the root of low consumer sentiment, new paper finds - https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/08/18/real-wage-losses-are-at-the-root-of-l

Real wage losses are at the root of low consumer sentiment, new paper finds - https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/08/18/real-wage-losses-are-at-the-root-of-low-consumer-sentiment https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/08/18/real-wage-losse... - August 18th, 2026 > It wasn’t inflation per se, but the fact that wages didn’t keep up — that’s been weighing down consumer sentiment, he said. His proof: Belgium. > “It is the only European country that had consumer confidence that bounced back after the inflation period,” Hurst said. > That’s because it also happens to be the only European country where wage increases are directly tied to inflation. If prices go up by 7%, then by law, so does your salary.

harvey9 2mo ago
Item 2 seems like a circular argument. If your wages did keep pace with inflation then of course subjectively there is no inflation. On the other hand this does not hold in all situations. In galloping inflation you might as well spend because savings get eroded.
- toomuchtodo 2mo ago
  Jurisdictions that require wages increase with inflation maintain purchasing power, jurisdictions that don't are inflating away your purchasing power while empowering capital (unless you're willing to take on more risk to find higher wages, if at all possible to find in the labor marketplace). It's that simple.