We have entered a nihilistic era of money
Governments spent the past 60 years devaluing labor relative to capital. They've won and now they're going to find that the spoils of war are catastrophic.
We're entering an era where labor has no value. Obviously people don't want to work.
In the Dallas Fed manufacturing survey today there was this comment from a fabricated metals manufacturer:
Even though Biden terminated some of the incentives to promote folks not to work, there still seems little interest in working.
Another from a printer is also telling:
Labor is unavailable at virtually any level; $13- to $15-per-hour jobseekers (if you can find any) now want $18. No experience. It is chaotic.
A wage of $18/hour is $37,500 per year. That's not enough to make it in the United States with rent, auto prices and home prices jumping.
What do young people see when they look at the world?
It's influences doing ridiculous things with money, promises of canceling debt, Fed printing, handouts, wall-to-wall coverage of crazy moves in markets and WallStreetBets making a virtue out of insane trades.
The long-term value of 10% annual compounded returns is a mathematical miracle but no one has time for that (try it). Those not swallowed up by the stock market are drawn into gambling or sports betting, which is everywhere now.
Social media has made becoming a YouTuber the most-desired profession for young people. Making NFTs can't be far behind. Why work when it only takes one hustle to never have to work again?
The alternative is paying people more, or offering pensions and benefits that will ensure a decent standard of living after 30 years of loyalty. Of course, we all now know that loyalty is a one-way street and pension funds are really corporate piggy banks.
It was fashionable to think this was about pandemic aid but there's a good chance this has been building for 60 years and we're into the end game. Maybe a flood of immigrants after the pandemic can keep the low-wage party going on a bit longer but I wouldn't bet on it.
I'm not in the hyperinflation camp but I can see which way the wind is blowing:
