Pete LamJan 10, 2023
Robert Reich
Fed Chair Powell’s solution to inflation is to clobber workers: “The labor market continues to be out of balance, with demand substantially exceeding the supply of available workers,” he says. But if the demand for workers exceeds the supply, isn’t the answer to pay workers more?
Jan 9, 2023 at 9:07pmWeb
Show threadJames M.Jan 9, 2023

@rbreich I'm still waiting for the "poor people are lazy" crowd to realize that US economic policy has always been to ensure that some percentage of people are unemployed, because it's "good for business".

Given that our safety net is so weak, that makes us a gladiator economy. :(

Show threadPackets and BoltsJan 10, 2023
@jamesmarshall @rbreich the ironic thing is that the laziest people in our society are the owners and CEOs that want to sit on their butt while others do the work for as low a wage as possible....
Show threadVoradams Jan 9, 2023
@rbreich not in the US. How else can it compete with China if it does not have a pool of low wage population working long hours in near serfdom conditions?
Show threaddoug chamberlainJan 9, 2023
@rbreich the Fed works in the interests of the banks, not the workers. They should be stripped of their unemployment mandate all together.
Show threadSteve PopovichJan 9, 2023
@chamby @rbreich wouldn't that make them even more extreme, though? They wouldn't even need to give lip service to keeping unemployment down any more.
Show threaddoug chamberlainJan 9, 2023
@sspopovich @rbreich The mandate obviously means nothing to the Fed and they don’t have a clue how unemployment relates to interest rates, so why pretend? They’re making PPE investments so costly that employers can’t afford to increase output and hire new workers. There is zero recourse to their actions so what is the point of the mandate?
Show threadtheillienJan 9, 2023
@rbreich not to the neoliberal
Show threadPatriotic CatsJan 9, 2023
@rbreich the right put Powell in place.
Show threadJames M.Jan 9, 2023
@Inah @rbreich this is true. Obama first appointed Powell to the Fed, but only as part of a horse trade with the GOP who wanted Powell there (not sure what Obama got in return). Unfortunately, Biden made him chair of the Fed.
Show threadAlchemistJan 9, 2023
@rbreich That would mean they actually believe the supply/demand models in typical capitalist society.
Show threadbenjamin garveyJan 10, 2023
@rbreich a head scratcher: Wages slow for December, but the problem in the labor economy is negative wage growth. So the answer is more savings… but we increased savings balances with fiscal policy that led to… historically high inflation leading to negative wage growth. Thus, the flaw in the economy is a system that values capital over labor. Except labor that is non-goods producing, ie switching the value of liquid assets through derivatives trading which values capital over labor
Show threadIX-103Jan 10, 2023
@rbreich That's why we need lower wages. If no one has money then demand will dry up, reducing the need for workers. We just need to reallocate that money to the hoarder class, since they won't spend it.
/s