Very clear explanation of what's going on. I've been looking online for articles about what happens next - does capitalism itself collapse?

Particularly interested in the horribly distorted housing market.

I talked wth an older woman clerk at Walmart today who said she is losing her rental in two months and can't find anyplace else she can afford. By working, she no longer qualified for food stamps or low-income housing, but working full time doesn't pay enough for her to rent anywhere and buy food. She said she was homeless before getting the job, and will be homeless again if she can't find someplace to go. Ripped my heart out.

How could we allow this to happen, and how do we fix it?

Thanks for posting.

It's amazing how long the easy money bubbles have gone.

While some states and cities have raised the minimum wage, it's still lagging far behind what it takes to live in safe housing, afford nutritional food, and see a doctor when you're sick.

In the early 60s, the minimum wage was set so that a family of four could live on one income. It meant renting instead of buying, driving a second hand car, and eating chuck instead of sirloin, but it was above the poverty line.

Now a full day's work hasn't led to a full day's pay for almost 50 years because a bunch of rich guys screamed that wages were inflationary, no matter that they're a lagging indicator that indicates inflation has already happened.

That's what will fix it--unskew the labor market. Money at the bottom adds labor and value as it circulates through the economy, it's called the multiplier effect. Money at the top causes the asset inflation we've seen since the 90s, with a couple of relatively short breaks in the feediung frenzy.

Other benefits of raising wages include increased contributions to Medicare and Social Security (rich men hate that) and increased tax revenue to the IRS, so maybe we can have a few nice things along with a bloated military.

It's not a panacea, but it's a place to start if they want to reduce the free floating anxiety that demagogues are tapping into and give more people a direct stake in this country.

Throwing money at the rich hasn't done anything for anyone, not even the rich because it's all numbers after they get jaded by all the stuff they own. It's unsustainable and it's time to try something that will work for more of us.

I've been fascinated by a Reddit site called Antiwork. I read it nearly every day and can see why young people are in despair.

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/

It is beyond my comprehension what it will take to get out of this mess, particularly the housing problem. I keep reading that they haven't build enough housing, but in my small town of 12,000, we have over 1200 vacation rentals. I think that whole vampire industry was funded by the free money, and it has left so many homeless.

If you are aware of any good writers or research on this issue, I'm up for it. The more academic the better.

Thanks for the post.

Last edited Sat Oct 15, 2022, 10:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Maybe $50

Along with all the legislators they've purchased.

1. Raise wages.
2. Tax the rich. (Hint: It does no good to tax the corporations because they'll just pass the cost on to the consumer so the stockholders don't have to pay anything. Tax the rich.)

instead of stashing the profits overseas, where no one but the major shareholders can get to them. That's why a minimum corporate tax rate was passed. Tech companies were really playing games with this stuff, which is why even profitable ones weren't paying dividends, no profits showed on US balance sheets.

Remember, taxes are only on net profits, not gross profits. They don't add to the cost of producing, marketing, transporting, or doing anything else to bring an item out to sell it. These assholes have been making billions and getting a free ride from the US taxpayer for decades. Their free lunch is over. It won't affect prices.

But yeah, raise wages and tax the rich. It all needs to be done.