Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 100 posts

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#31

Post by throwaway224466 »

mjevans wrote: post #2

The price of everything, from my perspective, has gone insane within the last few months. I would __much__ rather the market were satisfied with more houses, apartments, everything such that people could afford to live places and thus inflation / stagflation weren't the natural result of everyone trying to get ahead and increasing just their own wage. All of the other aspects of the jobs, such as safety conditions an…

Recent inflation/stagflation isn't the natural result of everyone trying to increase their own wage....it's because the US controls the money supply of the world and they use inflation strategically to control other countries and to control the general population.

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#32

Post by WalterBright »

mjevans wrote: post #2

The price of everything, from my perspective, has gone insane within the last few months. I would __much__ rather the market were satisfied with more houses, apartments, everything such that people could afford to live places and thus inflation / stagflation weren't the natural result of everyone trying to get ahead and increasing just their own wage. All of the other aspects of the jobs, such as safety conditions an…

> inflation / stagflation weren't the natural result of everyone trying to get ahead and increasing just their own wage.

Inflation / stagflation are the result of supply&demand forces just like everything else in an economy. Inflation happens when the supply of money increases faster than the value it represents.

Guess what has been happening with the supply of money when the government prints trillions of dollars to rain down on the economy. All that cash sloshing around just devalues the dollar, and hence prices rise.

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#33

Post by Guest42 »

Gustomaximus wrote: post #28
droptablemain wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The state needs to build a slew of affordable housing. I think the market has shown quite clearly it's ill-equipped to deal with the problem. Housing needs to be built for the purpose of housing people rather than the purpose of making profit.

State housing has a place, but I think they really need to fix the demand side of investors. There should be significant deterant to holding residential property in large scale. While options are varied I think a progressive asset tax of total property owned. Something like 0.5% per million starting on the second million. Maybe some principle place of residence reduction. So most people can have a house even a second…

Agree, and would propose increased property taxes for amount of time a property is empty, I think this would increase liquidity in rental markets.

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#34

Post by willis936 »

WalterBright wrote: post #32
mjevans wrote: post #2

The price of everything, from my perspective, has gone insane within the last few months. I would __much__ rather the market were satisfied with more houses, apartments, everything such that people could afford to live places and thus inflation / stagflation weren't the natural result of everyone trying to get ahead and increasing just their own wage. All of the other aspects of the jobs, such as safety conditions an…

> inflation / stagflation weren't the natural result of everyone trying to get ahead and increasing just their own wage. Inflation / stagflation are the result of supply&demand forces just like everything else in an economy. Inflation happens when the supply of money increases faster than the value it represents. Guess what has been happening with the supply of money when the government prints trillions of dollars to…

A $2000 check is why everything costs 20% more forever?

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#35

Post by WalterBright »

sandworm101 wrote: post #6
mjevans wrote: post #2

The price of everything, from my perspective, has gone insane within the last few months. I would __much__ rather the market were satisfied with more houses, apartments, everything such that people could afford to live places and thus inflation / stagflation weren't the natural result of everyone trying to get ahead and increasing just their own wage. All of the other aspects of the jobs, such as safety conditions an…

That would be basic supply and demand, but I think we are beyond that. Demand for the product (housing) has moved beyond basic consumers (people who want to live in them). Real estate is now a primary investment vehicle. So building more doesn't necessarily mean more houses for people to live in. Rather it will mean more investment opportunities for people seeking to move money into a "safe" asset. That is the cycle…

> So building more doesn't necessarily mean more houses for people to live in.

Of course it does. I know that some people buy homes and let them sit vacant, but that's a transitory state. A home has no value if it is not being used. To realize its value, it must be sold to someone who will live in it.

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#36

Post by [deleted] »

mjevans wrote: post #2

The price of everything, from my perspective, has gone insane within the last few months. I would __much__ rather the market were satisfied with more houses, apartments, everything such that people could afford to live places and thus inflation / stagflation weren't the natural result of everyone trying to get ahead and increasing just their own wage. All of the other aspects of the jobs, such as safety conditions an…

[deleted]

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#37

Post by WalterBright »

sandworm101 wrote: post #23
reducesuffering wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The market has shown it's ill-equiped? I don't know how you came to that conclusion. There are zoning codes everywhere, environmental review, city permits, etc, that the small amount of successful projects will of course be the minimal low hanging fruit. Literally all of this problem is "the state." Let people build buildings on their own land. It will supply far more housing than any state backed affordable housing…

>> Let people build buildings on their own land. All land is owned subject to the laws that govern its potential uses. Land that is open to more uses is more valuable than land that is not. Land that can be subdivided is worth more than land that cannot. Allowing people to build more houses on "their own land" is a wonderful gift to land owners. It increases the value of their property. But that exacerbates the probl…

Um, people building more houses means more supply which means lower prices. Nobody has yet managed to repeal the law of supply and demand.

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#38

Post by lotsofpulp »

willis936 wrote: post #34
WalterBright wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> inflation / stagflation weren't the natural result of everyone trying to get ahead and increasing just their own wage. Inflation / stagflation are the result of supply&demand forces just like everything else in an economy. Inflation happens when the supply of money increases faster than the value it represents. Guess what has been happening with the supply of money when the government prints trillions of dollars to…

A $2000 check is why everything costs 20% more forever?

I think it is possible that to be running so close to boundary conditions that a sudden shock to the system can catalyze outsize changes. Not necessarily $2k, but a confluence of factors, especially if they have knock on effects that compound.

Labor in the US has been losing ground for decades, I always wondered how long the situation was tenable.

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#39

Post by Guthur »

willis936 wrote: post #34
WalterBright wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> inflation / stagflation weren't the natural result of everyone trying to get ahead and increasing just their own wage. Inflation / stagflation are the result of supply&demand forces just like everything else in an economy. Inflation happens when the supply of money increases faster than the value it represents. Guess what has been happening with the supply of money when the government prints trillions of dollars to…

A $2000 check is why everything costs 20% more forever?

How many checks and how much low interest debt, how many tax breaks and increased social care spending? All of it feeds in.

Re: Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks

#40

Post by ajmurmann »

sandworm101 wrote: post #23
reducesuffering wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The market has shown it's ill-equiped? I don't know how you came to that conclusion. There are zoning codes everywhere, environmental review, city permits, etc, that the small amount of successful projects will of course be the minimal low hanging fruit. Literally all of this problem is "the state." Let people build buildings on their own land. It will supply far more housing than any state backed affordable housing…

>> Let people build buildings on their own land. All land is owned subject to the laws that govern its potential uses. Land that is open to more uses is more valuable than land that is not. Land that can be subdivided is worth more than land that cannot. Allowing people to build more houses on "their own land" is a wonderful gift to land owners. It increases the value of their property. But that exacerbates the probl…

If you want to diminish attractiveness of unused land, a land tax might help. Much better than the state trying to micromanage what gets done. Just set the right incentive structure.
Post reply on HN