So, I do think it is good for wages to go up, especially at the low end, but I notice that every time they directly quoted Jerome Powell, it sounded way more reasonable than their summaries in between those quotes.
It has long been orthodox policy that wages should not rise faster than productivity. We are seeing the reason for this right now: when they do, then inflation rises faster than wages (or profits).
If, as the article asserts, inflation were caused by "corporate monopolies", then we would see the least inflation in markets like housing, or equities, or grain, where there are many producers to choose from. Instead, these are three of the highest-inflation sectors lately.
None of this is meant to suggest that the Fed is doing everything correctly or well, but there are good and valid reasons to be concerned when wages rise faster than productivity, or when there are many job openings for each applicant, because neither of those situations actually results in us (the non-corporations) being better off.
It has long been orthodox policy that wages should not rise faster than productivity. We are seeing the reason for this right now: when they do, then inflation rises faster than wages (or profits).
If, as the article asserts, inflation were caused by "corporate monopolies", then we would see the least inflation in markets like housing, or equities, or grain, where there are many producers to choose from. Instead, these are three of the highest-inflation sectors lately.
None of this is meant to suggest that the Fed is doing everything correctly or well, but there are good and valid reasons to be concerned when wages rise faster than productivity, or when there are many job openings for each applicant, because neither of those situations actually results in us (the non-corporations) being better off.