America is thriving, how about the other part of the world?

[Missnaughty]

I have never seen a queue in front of all the high end brand shops in the US before. Not before the pandemic. Now.. not only 1 or 2 people waiting for their turn due to social distancing rule.. but it just like a queue for "pembagian sembako". #rolleyes. My kid gets $26 per hour, works as a restaurant host. Small restaurants are struggling to find workers. We are paying 20% "mandated tip" in the restaurants. The house prices are skyrocketing, seller market. I am confused...

 

[snpark]

Wow. That's thriving?

 

[Will_M]

Is that thriving or inflation?

 

[Nimbus]

It’s inflation. The U.S. government has been giving away literal trillions of dollars since last year. Combine that with manufacturers being slow to ramp up production to pre-pandemic level, we have more demand than supply.

To make it worse, the pandemic made workers realize that in a pinch they can survive for less, and that they don’t always have to take demeaning minimum wage jobs with no health insurance. My area began to experience labor shortage before the pandemic, although not as severe as today.

This is a ‘correction’ as they say in the business. Worker’s compensation had been stagnant for decades due to policies that consistently favor corporations. The pandemic is the catalyst that triggers the shift.

 

[fastpitch17]

Looks like there will be plenty of positions open for the Hatians, Southa American, and Afghani refugees.

 

[Nimbus]

Looks like there will be plenty of positions open for the Hatians, Southa American, and Afghani refugees.

Logically, yes. Unfortunately the argument that “they steal our jobs” is mostly an excuse. Many people simply don’t want immigrants of color.

 

[Dharma Police]

20% service charge included. Americans must hate that but hey be careful what you wish for, or rather, stop complaining so much. When tipping was optional people were bitching about that. How you like them apples?

 

[centurion]

Logically, yes. Unfortunately the argument that “they steal our jobs” is mostly an excuse. Many people simply don’t want immigrants of color.

So you complain about the low wages of the working class, evil corporations, and when people don't want to work for so little money, and eventually get higher wages, you support a massive import of a new workforce.
Interesting conclusions.

 

[HappyMan]

I always thought it made more sense to import cheap labor than to have businesses choose between being priced out of the market by American consumerism (specifically the ratio of consumption to production that workers demand) and going overseas in search of cheap labor. At least, as far as low skilled manufacturing work goes, it seems better to have your new, cheaper, employees spend their salaries in the country.
The alternative would be what, the American workforce accepting that the value of their labor is not inherently higher than that of other people in the world?
Then again, I struggle to comprehend how an economy where over 50 percent of the workforce is employed to move about pieces of paper is meant to work... Administrative costs of healthcare alone are something like 4% of GDP.

How Administrative Spending Contributes To Excess US Health Spending | Health Affairs Blog

In 2018, Health Affairs launched the Council on Health Care Spending and Value, a nonpartisan, expert working group that will, over the course of three years, develop recommendations about how the US could take a more deliberate approach to moderating health care spending growth while maximizing...

www.healthaffairs.org

 

[Jaime C]

Not seeing mandated tips in any of the few restaurants that I eat in, here in the US. Most people are fine with tipping 15-20% for formal dining. I don’t mind tipping for adequate service. If not, then I’m going to speak to a manager.

 

[Nimbus]

20% service charge included. Americans must hate that but hey be careful what you wish for, or rather, stop complaining so much. When tipping was optional people were bitching about that. How you like them apples?

The tipping is due to the service industry successfully lobbying for minimum wage exemption for tipped employees. While the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, tipped employees get $2.13 an hour. I favor a universal minimum wage with no exemption for tipped employees, so tipping becomes voluntary again instead of semi mandatory.

 

[Nimbus]

So you complain about the low wages of the working class, evil corporations, and when people don't want to work for so little money, and eventually get higher wages, you support a massive import of a new workforce.
Interesting conclusions.

The federal government expects to resettle up to 95K Afghan refugees this year.

Afghan Refugees in the U.S.: How They’re Vetted, Where They’re Going and How to Help

A majority of the Afghan refugees have moved into communities around the country, where refugee resettlement officials are helping them find homes, apply for jobs and enroll their children in school.

www.wsj.com

There are about 13K Haitian migrants in Mexico heading to the U.S. border.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/23/mexico-haitians-border-deportation/

The notorious “migrant caravan” from central America is about 7K people.

Migrant caravan: Guatemala blocks thousands bound for US

Security forces block a group of thousands that could pose an early test for the Biden White House.

www.bbc.com

In the third quarter of 2020 there were 3.2 million more people deciding to retire than the same quarter of 2019.

Employers Face Hiring Challenge as Boomers Retire in Record Numbers

The quit rate for U.S. workers is the highest in decades. Baby Boomers are leading the exodus. Employers already are facing the impact on the labor shortage in industries such as health care, construction and manufacturing.

www.shrm.org

So, we got 115K of potential immigrants to offset 3.2 million people retiring in a year. We haven’t even touched people who refuse to return to minimum wage jobs. Where is this “massive import” you’re talking about?

 

[centurion]

So, we got 115K of potential immigrants to offset 3.2 million people retiring in a year. We haven’t even touched people who refuse to return to minimum wage jobs. Where is this “massive import” you’re talking about?

I read fake news obviously.

U.S. border arrests top 1 million in fiscal year 2021

U.S. authorities have made more than 1 million arrests of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border so far in fiscal year 2021, according to preliminary figures shared with Reuters, a tally that underscores the immigration challenges facing President Joe Biden.

www.reuters.com

Over 1 million migrants arrested at U.S.-Mexico border since October

WASHINGTON, DC — More than 1 million migrants have been arrested after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border since last October, according to two U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials, surpassing the 2019 border crisis tally with three months still left in the fiscal year. The Biden...

kvia.com

Add to that 675.000 legal migrants per year as well. So because corporations need slave labor, and the upper class needs servants, the gates will be wide opened, not allowing the salaries to go up.

 

[snpark]

Who wats to pay $20 for a Big Mac
Hence Mexican staff

And remember it might not seem a high salary for some of us but what a Mexican can earn in a month in Maccy D in Ohio it takes him a year of backbreaking work in Mexico assuming he even can find a job

The irony is oompanies like Apple who make trillions of dollars a year with a phone that is essentially made in China and could be sold at a profit for $250 but still they can shift them for $1500 and lemmings still queuing up for the new one which now has 6 camera lens on the back instead of 5

I still use a Blackberry and iphone 5 never ever had problems with either of them, both still robust and work as fast as the super fragile iphone 12 etc

 

[Nimbus]

I read fake news obviously.

U.S. border arrests top 1 million in fiscal year 2021

U.S. authorities have made more than 1 million arrests of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border so far in fiscal year 2021, according to preliminary figures shared with Reuters, a tally that underscores the immigration challenges facing President Joe Biden.

www.reuters.com

Over 1 million migrants arrested at U.S.-Mexico border since October

WASHINGTON, DC — More than 1 million migrants have been arrested after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border since last October, according to two U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials, surpassing the 2019 border crisis tally with three months still left in the fiscal year. The Biden...

kvia.com

Add to that 675.000 legal migrants per year as well. So because corporations need slave labor, and the upper class needs servants, the gates will be wide opened, not allowing the salaries to go up.

A million people would probably put a dent on the labor shortage. Too bad.

Local businesses around here have been offering $15 an hour, which is about double the federal minimum wage, and they still can’t find enough people. This is a medium town in a midwest state, so $15 an hour minimum pay was unthinkable just a couple of years ago.

I have lived in USA for a couple of decades, dealing intimately with its immigration law. The idea that “the gates will be wide opened” is laughable. The Republican party has been taken over by white supremacists, and they excite their base by claiming that Democrats will open the border wide. Meanwhile the Democrats want to protect their unions and working class black constituents. Obama still holds the record as the president with the highest number of deportations, and Biden was his VP.

Immigration is such a difficult problem because both extremes don’t work in America. Open borders don’t work because the economic disparity with the neighboring country is too large. Close the border and labor shortage ensues. If manufacturers can’t find workers, they’ll have no choice but to increase automation and move the work abroad. Many companies already set up production facilities across the border in Mexico. If they can’t bring the Mexicans to work here, they’ll bring the work to Mexico. If the factory is in Mexico, then Mexico gets the taxes while the workers spend all their salary there instead of here.

Good concern trolling though, but your history and lack of subtlety blew it.

 

[centurion]

Good concern trolling though, but your history and lack of subtlety blew it.

So when the number that you incorrectly claim, 115.000, is shown to be incorrect by a wide margin and is actually 2-3 million per year (1 million till mid-year illegals+legal refugees+675.000 per year legal immigrants + people that entered legally with visas and working illegally-I know at least 5 of them personally), immediately goes ad hominem attack and narrative "all roads lead to white supremacy". Looks like a try to move attention from bad data and weak arguments. Btw, all these illegal immigrants are trying to enter into the evil racist US, but not to Saudi Arabia, or South Korea, or Indonesia.

Maybe the employers should try giving higher salaries than 15 USD instead-these are actually good news. But the corporations need cheap labor, as you correctly noticed, and it is a bipartisan issue among the rich.

 

[Nimbus]

So when the number that you incorrectly claim, 115.000, is shown to be incorrect by a wide margin and is actually 2-3 million per year (1 million till mid-year illegals+legal refugees+675.000 per year legal immigrants + people that entered legally with visas and working illegally-I know at least 5 of them personally), immediately goes ad hominem attack and narrative "all roads lead to white supremacy". Looks like a try to move attention from bad data and weak arguments. Btw, all these illegal immigrants are trying to enter into the evil racist US, but not to Saudi Arabia, or South Korea, or Indonesia.

Maybe the employers should try giving higher salaries than 15 USD instead-these are actually good news. But the corporations need cheap labor, as you correctly noticed, and it is a bipartisan issue among the rich.

You would have done well if you stopped at 1 million border apprehension, too bad that you have to push your luck by wrongly claiming that the number is higher. Read your source again, that number is for the fiscal year, which starts in October and ends in September.

Here are the details:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/10/surge-border-apprehensions-2021-visualized/

As for your comment about white supremacy, everything is relative. The problem with extremists is that they can only see in black and white. Since people flock to America instead of Saudi Arabia, then this white supremacy thing must be false. Nope.

The truth is that people can walk and chew gum at the same time. America is still the richest country on earth. Despite the real issue with white supremacy, the amount of money circulating in the economy makes it a relatively better place to live than Honduras and El Salvador. Democracy and rule of law still works here (so far).

The economy is a system with multiple parts. Higher salary alone is not the answer. If the task requires 10 people and only 5 are available, there’s no amount of pay that can magically create 5 more persons.

 

[Hawk256]

America is still the richest country on earth.

Are you sure about that? Even with different methods of measuring the actual wealth, it didn't make these lists at the top. Having the highest economy doesn't make you the richest.

Richest Countries in the World 2024 - Global Finance Magazine

Many of the world's richest countries are also the world's smallest: the pandemic and the global economic slowdown barely made a dent in their huge wealth.

www.gfmag.com

Top 10 Richest Countries in the World in 2024 - Financesonline.com

What are the top 10 richest countries in the world? Qatar has consistently come out on top of the list in recent years.

financesonline.com

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/worlds-5-richest-nations-by-gdp-per-capita-2021-05-20

These are the 25 richest countries in the world

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the gross national income (GNI) per capita of nearly 200 nations to identify the 25 richest countries.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Nimbus]

Are you sure about that? Even with different methods of measuring the actual wealth, it didn't make these lists at the top. Having the highest economy doesn't make you the richest.

Richest Countries in the World 2024 - Global Finance Magazine

Many of the world's richest countries are also the world's smallest: the pandemic and the global economic slowdown barely made a dent in their huge wealth.

www.gfmag.com

Top 10 Richest Countries in the World in 2024 - Financesonline.com

What are the top 10 richest countries in the world? Qatar has consistently come out on top of the list in recent years.

financesonline.com

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/worlds-5-richest-nations-by-gdp-per-capita-2021-05-20

These are the 25 richest countries in the world

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the gross national income (GNI) per capita of nearly 200 nations to identify the 25 richest countries.

www.usatoday.com

The richest country in the world by GDP per Capita is Luxembourg. This means each person in this country is richer than everybody else in other countries, on average. However, USA still has the largest GDP by far, enabling it to do many things that Luxembourg can’t, like keeping a military budget larger than the next 11 countries combined. Despite this massive defense budget, USA thinks that it can’t afford universal healthcare.

Does it mean USA is poor? No, it’s still number 5 in terms of GDP per capita.

 

[Ruserious]

Who wats to pay $20 for a Big Mac
Hence Mexican staff

There are plenty of countries around the world with higher minimum wage and lower big Mac costs.

https://www.newsweek.com/minimum-wage-15-denmark-big-mac-mcdonalds-1573414

USA has the highest ceo to worker pay disparity and that even compare to countries like India with some very low paid staff.