Re:NY Times Rides in Waymo Robotaxis in SF
by 3cats-in-a-coat on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @09:02AM
(#37222111)
Why keep stressing about wages being high? Do you people not understand basic inflation? At any point in time wages will always be highest they’ve ever been. In many places in the US, three years ago $100 bought you a week’s worth of food. Now it buys you a day’s worth. Maybe two.
Even in poor countries food has 3x in prices in two years.
Jobs are high because everyone has to work, wife, husband, even children in some cases, and many people take two jobs. While more and more don’t ever register at the bureau so they fall off the system. That’s your utopia?
Re:NY Times Rides in Waymo Robotaxis in SF
by rendang on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @09:46AM
(#37222632)
The poster you're replying to means that inflation-adjusted wages are roughly at an all time high, which is true:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/COMPRNFB
Aside from the distortion from the pandemic unemployment wave, people make more now than ever before. All of this data is publicly accessible.
No, food has not inflated 3.5x, and food is also a pretty small portion of Americans' spending.
-- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shortage.asp
We have a labor shortage. Economists don't assume that markets will clear. There are many reasons why they often don't.
Given that wages are about as high as they have ever been in our lifetimes, and unemployment is about as low as it has ever been in our lifetimes, it is an odd time to go Luddite.