I think what we really want is for real wages to increase faster than inflation. If inflation equates to cost of living, if Joe six-pack makes $100/year and life costs $102/year, he feels bad. If he makes $105/year and life costs $102/year he feels better.It’s an irrefutable no-brainer for anyone with so much as half a brain cell: Cost of living has increased and will continue to rise significantly throughout this Trump (and really, any alternative that would be otherwise) era and beyond.
I think what we really want is for real wages to increase faster than inflation. If inflation equates to cost of living, if Joe six-pack makes $100/year and life costs $102/year, he feels bad. If he makes $105/year and life costs $102/year he feels better.
What I'm not really sure how to quantify is what affect does de-regulation have on cost of living. For example, if California de-regulated the fuel standards for gasoline in its state, the cost to refine gas to be sold in CA would drop significantly, and the cost at the pump would drop. That's after tax money in people's pockets. What about scrapping the regs that was going to push everyone to get an electric stove and ditch their perfectly good gas stove? What about the regs that were going to force people in CA to purchase EVs when the grid isn't big enough to support powering them? If various states reformed zoning laws and construction regulations that created incentives for builders to create more housing inventory, housing prices would decrease.
What about the downstream cost reductions to the EPA killing the rule that made carbon dioxide a pollutant? All these types of things are interrelated.
I can ditto this through friends in various mid to high level positions in manufacturing.
Wages are connected to productivity. If I am a factory worker and operate a machine that kicks out 10 widgets per hour for $10/widget, I'm generating $100/hour in revenue. I also cost my wages, benefits, and the factory is paying for the tooling, insurance, etc. Let's say all that adds up to $65/hour. The factory is then generating $35/hour in profit.Why would real wages go up when we are entering the era of AI and full scale automation? People are going to become less necessary. Why would employers pay them more?
Without government interference in wages (something Trump and likely you too, are against) why would employers pay more when job seekers are in extreme abundance? The trend would be down, not up. This math aint mathing.
What will likely happen now is prices go up, wages go down.
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