[ajross]

> which is adequately obnoxious and harms real wages plenty.

That's not historically correct. Wages generally track inflation well, and are often (and are right now) a leading indicator.

What gets people upset about inflation is that it hurts lenders, not workers.

[jackcosgrove]

That's a bit blithe. I'm a worker and I've gotten a pay cut in real terms over the past year. Can I negotiate an offsetting raise? Looking doubtful.

Inflation slows down growth rates in some cases, becoming stagflation. The slowdown in growth is what really triggered a reaction against stagflation in the 70s.

[ajross]

> I'm a worker and I've gotten a pay cut in real terms over the past year. Can I negotiate an offsetting raise?

You can always negotiate a raise. But yes: on balance most workers in the US economy were getting raises as the pandemic ended. I did, just to counter your anecdata. When everyone gets a raise and economic activity doesn't change (or drops, c.f. "chip shortage", or "Shanghai shutdown"), you have more money chasing fewer things, so those things get more expensive (more anecdata: I bought a Model Y about 15 months ago, and could sell it today at a 15% profit because everyone who got raises also wants a Tesla).

Things getting more expensive is the definition of "inflation".

[jackcosgrove]

You can't always negotiate a raise. That's why real wages for some kinds of US workers have been flat since the late 1970s. Fewer workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements that peg wages to inflation now than in the 1970s, so wages will lag prices moreso now than then.

[a-user-you-like]

Did you get a 40% raise to counter the $$ printed? Like the Austin city council?

[fennecfoxen]

Right now, in the Year of our Lord 2022, the BLS says wages are down 2.8% year over year. Maybe some people can negotiate a raise to meet inflation, but society overall just isn’t there right now. It is getting poorer.

[ajross]

Those are "real" wages, not nominal. And as the number is quite a bit lower than the inflation rate against which it is being correct, that seems to undercut your point, no? Inflation doesn't make you poorer.

[fennecfoxen]

… do you have the definition of “real” and “nominal” backwards?

Real wages are down. Specifically: prices are up 8.26%, and the raise was more like 5.5% ish. People can afford less rent. People can afford less food. People can afford less fuel. People can afford fewer goods. People can afford fewer services. People can afford less of everything. This is what “poorer” looks like.

(And remember, that isn’t 2.6% less discretionary income, that’s a total-income figure.)