Shortage of legal (or illegal) imigrant workers? So the 8 to 20 million illegals already here just went back home? The influx was stemmed some during covid no doubt but there is definitely not a shortage of imigrants still here.
Here's some numbers on that:
FAIR estimates that in 2021 approximately 15.5 million illegal aliens resided in the US, up from our previous estimate of 14.5 million in 2020.
www.fairus.org
Yes, shortage. Despite the increase in absolute numbers of illegals here, the working age population of US citizens is decreasing. Those workers need to be replaced. Right now immigration is the only way. If we were smart we would allow more legal immigration so we could vet the immigrants based on the skills needed to fill the jobs. We don't, so instead we have the current situation of illegals crossing the border hoping they'll do better than they're doing in their home country.
The gubment printing some $10 trillion in monopoly money may have played a part in the runaway inflation?
It's a little more nuanced than that:
Historically, economists have largely agreed that the link between government spending and inflation remains weak.
www.forbes.com
Hmmmm, nah couldn't be. Nor is that ESG thing deciding who gets to win and who does not, or the absolute monsoon of regulations coming out of Washington DC and state houses? Nah, not that, those are the good guys doing it "for the children".
Government has been deciding winners and losers since post WWII. Who helped make an automobile-based transportation system and suburbia a reality? In large part, government. Other countries decided to keep rail and concentrate on their cities.
Meanwhile more and more perfectly healthy people of all age groups collect government assistance because it's cheaper to stay at home than it is to got buy a car, insure it, pay the taxes and fees, fuel it to drive it to a part time job. Plus the requirements to work have become so relaxed there are homes with 3rd and 4th generations of Americans who have never held a job.
It's not as easy as you think to qualify for assistance. My former brother-in-law got cancer about 20 years ago (he's fine, it hasn't come back). He couldn't work. My sister tried and failed to get any kind of help, despite the fact she made an average salary and had one child. This is in NY, a blue state with relatively generous benefits and more lax rules. I can't get any kind of help with my mother, despite the fact I haven't had a day off caring for her since January 26, 2018 (the day she got home from rehab).
Given the cost of car ownership, the equation is heavily tilted against part-time work actually putting you ahead meaningfully. Do the math. Even a cheap car might cost $100 a week to own. So that's $100 in after-tax income you need just to break-even. If your spouse is already working, your additional income is taxed at their incremental rate, which is at least 17.65% (lowest federal bracket plus FICA tax), but could be well over 40% for higher incomes in high tax states. So now you need to earn at least ~$120 a week just to pay for the car, never mind being ahead. Let's say you work 20 hours a week at $10 an hour. $200, you clear $165 after taxes but before car expenses. After car expenses, you have a big $65 for 20 hours of your time, plus travel time. There's no universe where that's worth it, even if you're not getting government benefits. If you can walk or bike to work, yeah, then it's worthwhile if you're broke.
This reminds me of the late 1980s when my boss was trying to get me to come in for 4 hours Saturday (at straight time per the union contract), instead of working 4 hours overtime during the regular work week. I showed him the numbers. $28 less about 1/3 for taxes, and $5 for car fare. That meant I cleared about $14 for about 6 hours of my time, once you counted the extra commute day. He understood. He didn't expect me to work for a net amount not much over $2 an hour. So he was fine with the OT.
The truth some people don't want to hear is that the pandemic gave people free time to really analyze their situations. Many who were mindlessly working these extra jobs did the math, saw that it was a waste of their time, and quit. Maybe they had to cut expenses a little. Many times they didn't. I still remember the time I helped one of my neighbors with her finances (this was in the 1990s). Similar conclusion. She was actually behind working after you counted child care expenses and extra income taxes. It was a no brainer for her to quit work and enjoy more time with her children.
Sure the gubment figures say record low unemployment but they only count the people looking for work. They say jobs are being created because more people are being hired but the truth is a large swath is people taking on a second job, even a third.
Almost certainly true. The real unemployment rate, defined as the number of people working divided by the working age population (termed the
labor force participation rate), is at levels which existed during the Great Depression. As for second or third jobs, maybe if workers were paid proportionally to their gains in productivity since WWII those wouldn't be needed.
Sadly the truth many don't want to hear is it's all being done on purpose. Done by the people who many think actually have their best interest. Much of it done by folks invisible to the watching world on a global scale.
Agreed. As I've said already, the wealthy want a desperate underclass who is forced to labor for them. Indentured servitude never disappeared. Now we just call it living paycheck to paycheck. Then you have others doing this for even more sinister motives, on both sides of the political spectrum.
Covid-19 was a test. A test many of us failed.
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Orwell only got it partly right. It's not the government which controls our lives, but giant corporations with unelected leaders. You know the old saying never let a good crisis go to waste? That's exactly what happened here when businesses used some of the issues caused by covid as an excuse to raise prices above and beyond their cost increases. If prices had only gone up with cost increases, profits would have remained flat. The fact you see record corporate profits across the board tells me they milked the situation for every dime. Why should a 6 oz bag of potato chips cost $3.99? It probably costs them a dime to make.
www.techtimes.com
