People seem perplexed by the increased prices on homes, steel, lumber, and fuel, so let me help put some perspective on it and, no, it isn't the current President's doing (or Congress).
During the Pandemic (most of 2020 and into the current year) there was a major disruption on life in general. Construction, travel, manufacturing, etc. People didn't go places, so supplies dwindled. Remember the Toilet Paper Shortage?
As we roll out of the Pandemic (with vaccinations making a return to normalcy possible, while resistance to vaccinations by 30+ percent of the population means we'll probably never get past the disease or its variants and mutations like we did for Smallpox or Polio), life is returning to normal, and demand for lumber and steel has outstripped the current supply and desire to travel means demand for fuel has increased. When demand outstrips supply, prices go up. That's not politics; that's Capitalism.
As a side-note, regarding employment: Congress (i.e. Democrats) believe people should make a Living Wage, which is closer to $15/hr than $8/hr. The public has heard that and the majority of Americans are in favor of raising the Minimum Wage to $15/hr (or that neighborhood). I suspect people don't embrace unemployment benefits, as such, as much as they now believe many current "Now Hiring" businesses aren't willing to voluntarily pay a Living Wage. So, if businesses need workers to survive, they ought to consider offering decent wages and see if things don't turn around.
Ironically, when businesses pay increasingly good wages, income tax receipts increase, and the National Debt goes down. The Rich will continue to get rich, and the people, as a whole, will find their lives improved significantly.
No comments:
Post a Comment