by Joe Siano
This President,
God bless him, has never worried about how to meet a payroll, afford capital
improvements, fund marketing campaigns or just keep the lights on in a
business.
But now he is
dispensing business advice. Expect to
see him on Shark Tank.
When asked how American
businesses are to contend with staffing shortages his answer was simple: “Pay them more”. For maximum
effect he delivered his response in a sarcastic stage whisper to suggest that
anyone who would even broach this question is an ignoramus.
This may be the most tone-deaf malaprop since Marie Antionette dropped, “Let them eat cake!”
Biden, the
taxpayer tycoon, continued by saying that businesses will “have to compete and pay
people a decent wage”.
Compete with
who? Compete with what?
Businesses
always compete with each other for the best employees. In this instance, America’s employers are
competing with forces bigger and more ominous than other companies:
The Couch
The
Lazy Boy
The Price is Right
Grand Theft Auto
Porn Hub
Weed
Mom and Dad
Uncle Sam
The Apostle
Paul nailed it, “if any would not work,
neither should he eat” (KJV) He was talking about the lazy laggards who
mooched off the generosity of early Christian communities who shared all things
in common. You would think that a
President, who makes such a big deal of weekly Church attendance, might know
this.
But let’s not move
on from the “pay them more” part so quickly.
Businesses that are cash-strapped due to enforced government shutdowns are
already paying more. Years of Fed money
pumping are causing:
·
Grocers and restauranteurs to pay
more for the food they the put on their shelves and tables
·
Builders to pay more for plywood and
building supplies
·
Truckers and farmers to pay more
to run their vehicles and operate their implements
If businesses must
pay more for essential supplies and the President wants them to raise wages,
the proprietors have little choice but to:
(Say this in a loud stage whisper)
CHARGE CUSTOMERS MORE!
Yes, a
bipartisan coalition of DC non-producers did pass a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. The
net effect will be to:
·
Continue rewarding lay-abouts for
sitting home and producing nothing and serving no one
·
Pump more money into the economy to
chase a dwindling supply of goods and services
·
Drive the cost of all consumer
and producer goods higher
·
Make life more difficult for
people who are trying to do the right thing by actively engaging in productive
economic activity
·
Create a moral hazard by teaching
people to expect more for doing nothing instead of less for doing something
Austrian economics holds that consumers, you and I, are the ultimate employers. Our purchase decisions decide what is produced, the quantity and the market price. So what Joes Biden is really telling Joe and Jane Consumer is:
(Say this in a loud stage whisper once again)
YOU PAY MORE
to get these bums off the couch.
Incentives
matter.
Washington DC
is sending the message that there is no dignity in work. Only a fool would work for lower wages that
may be garnered by slacking. That is
hard to argue with.
The old joke in
the Soviet Union was, “We pretend to work while they pretend to pay us”. In America 2021, we no longer need to
pretend.
Related Articles:
Who
Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Go back to: 2 Percenter Home Article Archive
Connect through:
Facebook Twitter E-mail
"Half
the people are stoned and the other half are waiting for the next election.
Half the people are drowned and the other half are swimming in the wrong
direction."
- Paul Simon
