Ain’t it funny? Unemployment is dropping, job creation is going up, interest rates and inflation are stable, and the global economy appears to be ready for a real takeoff. And (here’s the key factor) worker salaries seem to be poised for a leap into the stratosphere. Maybe after a decade the Obama policies are finally starting to get some traction and the Bush Recession is finally over.
But the stock market appears to be seizing up, perhaps even preparing for a crash, in spite of a massive supply-side tax cut and a gilded age regulatory environment. I know I’m just a naive, simplistic, uninformed lefty who don’t know squat about economics, but its starting to look like what is good for the workers is not necessarily what is good for their bosses. The 1%, of all people, should know. Bingo, maybe it IS a zero-sum game after all!
Maybe the captains of industry and finance see that the underlying trends pointing to people working and salaries rising is not what is good for business. And if Mr Trump actually succeeds in keeping all the illegals out, maybe we’re starting to move into a sellers’ market for labor. Workers will start demanding better pay and working conditions and for the first time in over a decade they’ll have the option of going somewhere else to find it. After all, the biggest threat to rising profits is being forced to share them with your employees.
Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!