Midwest Gasoline to Spike $0.50-$1.00 Per gallon

[5030]

Uhm, because runaway inflation.
I just paid $6 a gallon for premium fuel.

Being in Kalifornica, that is par for the course. Maybe that is why Kalifornians are leaving the state in droves. Maybe it's time for you to get out as well..

 

[5030]

In 90 days, 6 bucks will seem like a bargain... At that rate it would take 180 bucks to fill the wife's Burb.

 

[Hay Dude]

You complain about high prices and an overpaid work force?
So why can't people afford stuff if they are overpaid?

Because wages can’t keep up with inflation, rippie

 

[riptides]

Because wages can’t keep up with inflation, rippie

Plenty of jobs out there.

 

[Hay Dude]

Plenty of jobs out there.

That has nothing to do with this topic of wages & inflation.
You’re moving the goal posts nonsense doesn’t work with me.

 

[5030]

Plenty of jobs, problem is most of them don't pay a living wage.

 

[Torvy]

Plenty of jobs, problem is most of them don't pay a living wage.

Other jobs are adding to the inflation by paying high pay for entry level jobs. Some of this is mandated by well-meaning, but moronic, state and local officials who think you can legislate wealth.

Economists even have a term for it, wage-price inflation.

 

[NoTrespassing]

The powers that be are eliminating entry level jobs. The higher states raise the minimum wage the more automation is introduced. When I was a kid in my early 20's I had entry level jobs. I couldn't afford to buy a house by myself, so I had roommates in a cheap apartment. Now I have to scan my own groceries and watch robots work at McDonalds.

I was shopping in a fairly high-end grocery store Saturday. I couldn't find a single employee in the grocery department for help finding an item. I went to the service counter and they paged someone to meet me in the baking aisle but no one showed up. I ended up calling the store from the bakery aisle and the grocery manager had to come out of his office to help me. In the end, I found the item on a bottom shelf hidden behind other items myself. The item I was looking for was canning/pickling salt.

Illinois minimum wage is up to $13 but we are surrounded by Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Kentucky that are still at the federal level of $7.25. Missouri is up the $12 now.

 

[Torvy]

There's a grocery chain around here that still has kids who help carry out to the car.

When I was a kid the commissary (military grocery store) had kids that did that. Only pay was tips. There was a waiting list for those jobs.

Thomas Sowell has written extensively on how the minimum wage has harmed the poor, especially minority poor. Higher wages sound good and win political points, but don't work in the real world.

 

[jyoutz]

Other jobs are adding to the inflation by paying high pay for entry level jobs. Some of this is mandated by well-meaning, but moronic, state and local officials who think you can legislate wealth.

Economists even have a term for it, wage-price inflation.

You are overlooking the fact that the US is basically at full employment (economists say 3% unemployment is full employment). This is largely due to the retirement of boomers and a smaller workforce of young people. Just about every business is recruiting employees now. Employers are competing for employees and that drives up wages.