American workers' wages stagnant, even in a great economy: why?

[Aegon]

[The Valkyrie]

Because it's an economy to benefit the rich, not the rest of the people.

[Chad32]

I have family that believes that if you increase wages, the price of everything will go up the exact same amount.

[purplepurpose]

Production is in Asia. Production generates wealth. Which means that you cannot physically rise the standard of living, unless Elon Musk makes cheap robots or something.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I have family that believes that if you increase wages, the price of everything will go up the exact same amount.

Yeah, that's kind of silly.  When wages increase, people have more disposable income, buy more stuff, creating a greater demand for services and manufactured goods, which increases production which lowers prices.  Economies of scale work best when wages grow moderately faster than inflation.

Boru

[Minimalist]

Because the Orange Turdfuhrer doesn't know what the fuck he is talking about.

[Angrboda]

I'm not overly bothered that real wages haven't improved. I have to wonder whether it's realistic to expect real wages to increase under any conditions. The balance between wages and cost may just be a fixed feature of economic reality. What I do object to, however, is the reapportionment of benefits from the public fund being diverted away from social programs and other things which benefit the greater part of society, and redistributing the savings from those cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Conservatives try to justify it with an appeal to the idea that if they prosper, the benefits will trickle down to the rest. But trickle down economics was shown to be an empty promise in the Reagan years, and the recent wave of companies using tax savings to make stock buy backs rather than making improvements that would benefit the workers simply shows this, again, to be the case. Instead, all you've done is take away resources and benefits from those who are struggling and need them, and given them to those who are not in need. The recent tax cuts are transparently regressive, and have nothing else to justify their implementation.

[Minimalist]

Wait until the republicunt shits start screaming about "out of control budget deficits" and how regardless the pentagon needs even more money to keep us safe from  enemies we go out of our way to create.

Their solution will be to totally fuck the poor and protect the upper 1% scumbags who hold their leashes.

[Chad32]

I have family that believes that if you increase wages, the price of everything will go up the exact same amount.

Yeah, that's kind of silly.  When wages increase, people have more disposable income, buy more stuff, creating a greater demand for services and manufactured goods, which increases production which lowers prices.  Economies of scale work best when wages grow moderately faster than inflation.

Boru

That's what I figured too. When you have more customers coming in with disposable income, you don't have to jack your prices up so much. They just don't seem to believe that, though.

Yeah. Deficits are out of control, so we need to cut funding in social safety nets while continuing to shovel money into the military and corporations. Those are two things the government will never cut back.

[The Grand Nudger]

Some poeple are under the impression that a $3 raise for employees would make a pack of yellow #2 pencils cost $50.  If the margins on whatever you're making are that slim...you're doing it wrong..but hey, welfare for me and none for thee has become the dominant corporate ethos in the US.