The fictitious ‘labor shortage’ and Joe Biden’s alleged attempt to raise wages and dignity

benfell

Donald Trump

Donald Trump will be allowed to return to Facebook in two years, if the threat to public safety has receded.[1] As of now, there is no sign that threat is receding.[2]

Along with other social networks, Facebook had suspended Trump[3] following his possibly criminal encouragement of the January 6 Capitol Hill coup attempt.[4]

Facebook’s decision follows a ruling from its Oversight Board, the company’s effort at self-regulation, that the company had not had clear criteria for an indefinite suspension, but which upheld the decision.[5] So far as I know, Trump remains suspended on other social networks.

Elizabeth Dwoskin, “Facebook suspends Trump for 2 years in response to Oversight Board ruling,” Washington Post, June 4, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/06/03/trump-facebook-oversight-board/

Unemployment

[I]f the pursuit of maximum employment is an uncontroversial aim in the context of American oratory, it is a radical one in the context of U.S. policy. For the bulk of the past four decades, our government hasn’t merely declined to achieve full employment through public hiring; it has actively sought to keep millions of Americans perpetually unemployed.

This bipartisan consensus against full employment was rarely articulated to the public in forthright terms. During the crisis that consolidated the paradigm, policy-makers were sometimes blunt; in 1979, Fed chair Paul Volcker told Congress that in order for inflation to be brought down to a tolerable level, “the standard of living of the average American has to decline.” But as inflation became more of a historical memory than a present danger, the government’s prioritization of price stability over employment became increasingly camouflaged behind the dry technocratic verbiage of central-bank press conferences. Once decoded, the gist of this new consensus was simple enough: If unemployment falls beneath its “natural” threshold, then employers will be forced into a bidding war for scarce workers, who will then secure wages in excess of their productivity, which will force businesses to raise prices, which will lead workers to demand yet-higher wages, which will force businesses to raise prices further still, thereby setting off an inflationary spiral that will be difficult to stop. Thus, to save the economy from such destabilization, the government has to reduce economic demand — by raising interest rates, or cutting federal spending, or both — before unemployment gets too low, even if inflation is not yet apparent.[6]

Eric Levitz’ claim is that this has now changed, that while Republicans still prioritize low inflation and low wages to the benefit of the wealthy, hence the fictitious “labor shortage,”[7] which I have addressed,[8] Joe Biden wants labor to have bargaining power, to raise wages and dignity. If this is true, it would indeed be, as Levitz claims, a radical shift away[9] from anything I have seen in my adult life.[10]

I’ll believe it when I have a real job. But so far, what I’m seeing[11] remains utterly bogus.[12]

Eric Levitz, “Letting the Economy Create Jobs for Everyone Is (Sadly) Radical,” New York, June 4, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/06/biden-full-employment-policy-labor-shortage-inflation.html

Gig economy

The reason I’m not on the road right now is I don’t have a usable car—I’m unwilling to sink another $1,800 into my Toyota Camry Hybrid whose maintenance costs have skyrocketed, in significant part due to Pittsburgh roads, and I’m unable to get a rental car—I need to check with the local agents to see if they even actually have a car and they aren’t even answering their phones—through Uber and Lyft company programs, almost certainly due to a rental car shortage.[13] I have a new car on order, which I expect to be more resilient.

But you know those driver incentives the companies been promising for months to alleviate Uber and Lyft druver shortages?[14] Apparently they aren’t working because we’re still hearing the same refrain:

The labor shortage is not unique to ride-hailing, but the situation is particularly dire right now at Uber and Lyft, where morale among its gig workers is low. [Harry] Campbell says he talks to drivers every day who say they’re not benefiting from the higher prices that passengers are being charged. Last week, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company would be proposing new incentives to draw drivers back to the app. Lyft’s CEO John Zimmer also said the company was considering driver incentives. As the apps work to recruit and retain more drivers, Campbell thinks the high prices will likely last two to three more months.[15]

Right up until that “Check VSC System” indication came on, warning about brakes—the $1,800 repair means replacing the Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) Actuator—I was keeping as busy as I’ve been pretty much since the pandemic began and the bonuses—incentives in the parlance—have been wobbling up and down and they’re certainly not spectacular. If you think you aren’t making enough money as an Uber and Lyft driver, and you have an alternative, then hell yes, you’re going to do something else.

Because the money still isn’t there.

Alissa Walker, “Why Your Uber Ride Is Suddenly Costing a Fortune,” New York, June 4, 2021, https://www.curbed.com/2021/06/uber-lyft-expensive-new-york-city.html

  1. [1]Elizabeth Dwoskin, “Facebook suspends Trump for 2 years in response to Oversight Board ruling,” Washington Post, June 4, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/06/03/trump-facebook-oversight-board/↩
  2. [2]David Benfell, “Slip, slip, slipping away, down that fascist slippery slope,” Not Housebroken, June 2, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/06/01/slip-slip-slipping-away-down-that-fascist-slippery-slope/↩
  3. [3]Rachel Lerman, “Trump has been suspended from YouTube,” Washington Post, January 13, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/12/trump-youtube-ban/; Margi Murphy, “Facebook, Instagram and Twitter lock Donald Trump’s accounts after praise for Capitol Hill rioters,” Telegraph, January 7, 2021, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2021/01/06/calls-twitter-facebook-mute-donald-trump-violence-breaks-capitol/; Tony Romm and Elizabeth Dwoskin, “Trump banned from Facebook indefinitely, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says,” Washington Post, January 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-resignations-25th-amendment/2021/01/07/e131ce10-50a3-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html; Nitasha Tiku, Tony Romm, and Craig Timberg, “Twitter bans Trump’s account, citing risk of further violence,” Washington Post, January 8, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/08/twitter-trump-dorsey/↩
  4. [4]Devlin Barrett, “Trump’s remarks before Capitol riot may be investigated, says acting U.S. attorney in D.C.,” Washington Post, January 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/federal-investigation-capitol-riot-trump/2021/01/07/178d71ac-512c-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html; David Benfell, “Riot or insurrection? Lies or madness?” Not Housebroken, January 22, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/01/12/riot-or-insurrection-lies-or-madness/↩
  5. [5]Elizabeth Dwoskin and Cat Zakrzewski, “Facebook’s Oversight Board upheld the social network’s decision to ban Trump,” Washington Post, May 5, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/05/05/facebook-trump-decision/↩
  6. [6]Eric Levitz, “Letting the Economy Create Jobs for Everyone Is (Sadly) Radical,” New York, June 4, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/06/biden-full-employment-policy-labor-shortage-inflation.html↩
  7. [7]Eric Levitz, “Letting the Economy Create Jobs for Everyone Is (Sadly) Radical,” New York, June 4, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/06/biden-full-employment-policy-labor-shortage-inflation.html↩
  8. [8]David Benfell, “About that alleged ‘labor shortage,’” Not Housebroken, May 17, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/05/09/about-that-alleged-labor-shortage/↩
  9. [9]Eric Levitz, “Letting the Economy Create Jobs for Everyone Is (Sadly) Radical,” New York, June 4, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/06/biden-full-employment-policy-labor-shortage-inflation.html↩
  10. [10]David Benfell, “A piper needs paying,” Not Housebroken, May 10, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/12/19/a-piper-needs-paying/↩
  11. [11]David Benfell, “About that alleged ‘labor shortage,’” Not Housebroken, May 17, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/05/09/about-that-alleged-labor-shortage/↩
  12. [12]David Benfell, “About my job hunt,” Not Housebroken, n.d., https://disunitedstates.org/about-my-job-hunt/↩
  13. [13]Scott McCartney, “Wait, Where Did All the Rental Cars Go?” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/hertz-avis-enterprise-rental-car-shortage-11618335385↩
  14. [14]Jessica Bursztynsky, “Uber CEO is ‘not happy’ with how long it’s taking to pick riders up or prices being charged,” CNBC, May 25, 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/25/uber-ceo-is-not-happy-with-driver-supply-pricing.html; Laura Forman, “Uber and Lyft Need a Sharper Turn,” Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-and-lyft-need-a-sharper-turn-11618311794; Faiz Siddiqui, “Where have all the Uber drivers gone?” Washington Post, May 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/05/07/uber-lyft-drivers/↩
  15. [15]Alissa Walker, “Why Your Uber Ride Is Suddenly Costing a Fortune,” New York, June 4, 2021, https://www.curbed.com/2021/06/uber-lyft-expensive-new-york-city.html↩

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