For Workers, a New Normal

For Workers On Labor Day, a New Normal? | RealClearMarkets: "....But suppose we are nearing an inflection point, where worker supply and demand are in closer balance. That certainly wouldn't be bad. Workers' bargaining power would improve with tighter markets: markets where businesses have to pay a bit more to keep employees; where younger workers might have competing job offers; and where someone could quit with a reasonable expectation of finding another job. (Note that unions aren't a plausible alternative to markets because they represent only 7 percent of private workers. The minimum wage suffers from a similar scale problem.) A wage explosion seems unlikely; companies were too traumatized by the Great Recession to let costs get out of hand. Even in 2007, wage increases - unadjusted for inflation - were running only at about a 3.5 percent annual rate. What's ultimately at stake is the Great Recession's lasting effect on labor markets. Are they in the process of reverting to their modern role, promoting steadier employment and higher living standards? Or has there been a major break from the past, ushering in a harsher, more arbitrary system whose outlines are still faint? On this Labor Day, the verdict is unclear." read more at link above

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