Federal Reserve raises rates by 0.75%
The returns that capital demands (and the government obliges to) are ultimately unsustainable. That&#x27;s the core problem here.<p>Rising wages? There has been no meaningful real increase in wages in 40 years despite a massive increase in productivity. Profits keep going up and up. The expectations for profits keep going up. The problem here is that the people who make companies possible don&#x27;t get to share in the proceeds of what they contribute to.<p>Rising wages and lower profits would actually represent in workers actually getting an actual real increase in wages and getting a greater share in the fruits of their labor. But no, that&#x27;s unacceptable. We have to raise prices to maintain the profits and effectively erode those wage increases.<p>The real failure here is the government.<p>Take rising energy prices. The government could take action to hasten development of existing leases and&#x2F;or restrict the export of refined petroleum products. Oil hasn&#x27;t gotten more expensive to produce. Oil and gas companies are simply raking in massive profits.<p>What we actually need is a system like Norway where we don&#x27;t simply give away natural resources like this for private investors to profit off. At least in Norway, the government is making a ton of revenue from the increased prices, which it can direct back to people who need it.<p>Housing? Shelter is or should be a human right. What we&#x27;re allowing to happen here through investors buying up housing stock (and jacking up the prices), second homes, AirBnB and so on has reached the point of being a human rights violation IMHO. Also those skyrocketing rents do even more to erode the income of particularly lower income people to keep them living paycheck to paycheck.<p>This is modern serfdom in action. The government acts at the behest of the capital-owning class regardless of party and part of that is having a compliant labor pool. This is turning into the West&#x27;s version of Pakistan&#x27;s brick kilns.<p>After going into massive debt for college, having to pay a huge amount for your car, gas and rent and so on, you&#x27;re absolutely showing up to work. That&#x27;s the point.<p>A budget shortfall is built into your existence.