[dforest]

Why does the standard of living have to decline? It never declines for the elites.

[Susquehanna Patriot]

“It never declines for the elites.”

It never declines for givernment too - feral, state or local.

[Jim Noble]

And why should wage increases be inflationary?

[Justa]

Money used to be used to support freedoms and liberties.

Now it’s used to reduce misery.

Serfdom.

[Alberta's Child]

In every industry, you typically have to “sell upward.” This means the customer base for any product or service will generally have a higher standard of living than the people who produce it. A simple illustration of this is a landscaping company that hires a bunch of Mexican immigrants. The company doesn’t do landscaping work in the neighborhoods where the Mexicans live.

If everyone has a high standard of living, there’s nobody to do the work — and prices will rise because low-wage jobs must pay more just to attract workers who have other options.

As one FReeper astutely noted a while back … You can’t have $30/hour wages and Walmart prices at the same time.