[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?