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Re:83% of Americans Are Belt Tightening Due to Inflation Pre... by lotsofpulp on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @02:45PM (#27294474)
Giving everyone $30k would. Just the extra $300 per week that people were getting is causing them to be dissuaded from subjecting themselves to the bottom tier of jobs.

I’ve spoken to a lot of hotel owners and restaurateurs lamenting their inability to hire people for low wages part time work. And there are fast food restaurants around me that are closed at many times because they have no workers, especially for late night hours that they used to. Some hotel owners I know are closing off portions of their inventory because they cannot find housekeeping staff to clean their rooms for the wages/quality of life/stability they want to provide.

That is also the reason for all the PPP nonsense. Rather than simply paying the workers for lost wages and paying the businesses for lost revenue, PPP stipulations make it so the worker stays tied to the business.

Re:83% of Americans Are Belt Tightening Due to Inflation Pre... by dragonwriter on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @02:50PM (#27294532)
> Just the extra $300 per week that people were getting is causing them to be dissuaded from subjecting themselves to the bottom tier of jobs

Giving people money that you take away if they work dissuades them from taking jobs, especially jobs that net them the same or less than they get without working.

That doesn’t really prove anything about how giving people money that you don’t take away if they work effects their willingness to work.

Re:83% of Americans Are Belt Tightening Due to Inflation Pre... by lotsofpulp on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @02:54PM (#27294578)
It does for the low paying jobs that rely on people not having a choice.

They already live on the bare minimum, but they have to clean toilets to get it. Now the government says you can live on the bare minimum, but you do not have to clean toilets.

So now you have to raise wages to entice people to clean toilets.

You are correct that it is not the exact same situation, but I think there would be even more disruption of the same kind the more you increase the government assistance.

Re:83% of Americans Are Belt Tightening Due to Inflation Pre... by dragonwriter on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @03:01PM (#27294668)
> So now you have to raise wages to entice people to clean toilets.

Or so now people doing even more distasteful and/or lower-paid work outside of the formal economy because it can stack with means tested benefits can afford to clean toilets for low wages in the formal economy because it stacks with the now-unconditional benefits. Conjecture as to which effect dominates based on behavior with additional means-tested benefits is on extremely shaky ground.

Re:83% of Americans Are Belt Tightening Due to Inflation Pre... by lotsofpulp on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @03:47PM (#27295179)
That's a good point, and I would like to see a universal basic income to see the actual effects.

But my conjecture would be we might see lower wages for desirable work, but higher wages for undesirable work.