A shortage of workers is driving up wages: are we entering a new economic era?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/06/fall-in-workers-rise-in-wages-new-economic-era-pandemic-work

by xbmcuser • 5 years ago

7 7 5 years ago

xbmcuser• 5 years ago

For me the money given by governments for the pandemic allowing people to stay home has sort of become a proxy for UBI. Has allowed for the decrease in exploitation of workers. As workers are under the barrel when negotiating for pay either they except what they can get or they and their children go hungry. This allows them to negotiate a better pay.

737maxtw• 5 years ago

I'm not so sure. It almost looks like the wages going up is getting "priced in" by businesses.

AtlasBarfed• 5 years ago

In america, health insurance will make sure all workers come back under the thumb of the oligarchy.

But perhaps politics will change and universal healthcare will finally come to the US. Big if though.

Dma54rhs2• 5 years ago

Why in America only? It's more or less tied to work in European countries as well.

morbicer• 5 years ago

Mmm, no? You can be on the dole or maternity leave, be a kid, elderly, disabled and everybody gets exactly the same quality of healthcare (in most countries including dental and glasses)

It means that I with good salary pay a shit ton of money for health insurance to subsidize other people. I don't mind, I still think it's a great system (and I probably still pay less than US people because our system isn't rigged and hospitals don't charge $20 for a single Ibuprofen pill).

AFAIK healthcare isn't tied to employment in Canada or Australia either.

imtringued• 5 years ago

In that context, the recent spectacle of the Brexiter founder of the Wetherspoons pub chain, Tim Martin, moaning about his sector’s recruitment headaches and demanding “some sort of preferential visa system for EU workers” was grimly hilarious

A lot of people are against immigration because they compete in the labor market and take their jobs. This fuels right wing parties or the Brexit referendum. The real problem weren't the immigrants, they are just a group of people you throw out of the country, i.e. it's a something where you can exert control on the supply side of the labor market. The actual problem is that there simply wasn't enough work for everyone because the upper class kept hoarding fiat tokens.

A shortage of workers is driving up wages: are we entering a new economic era?

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