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Comment by johngalt | Hacker News Reader

Many comments are painting this as a bunch of monocle wearing old money aristocrats lamenting the peasants demanding more.

In reality what the report is saying is this: businesses are having to hire more people at higher wages without the corresponding increase in earnings. Earnings in excess of costs is the point of equity markets. Ignore that and you have Venezuela. The evil capitalists that you all describe would happily double worker wages if it meant doubling earnings.

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> The evil capitalists that you all describe would happily double worker wages if it meant doubling earnings.

fair point. but another point is that, for the last 20 years or so, they've been increasing return to owners (to capitalists) without an equivalent return to labor. now that it's starting to shift a little bit more towards labor relative to capital? oh noes!

EDIT: mine plus aaronbrethorst's point: 1+1=3

25 of the 26 highest-earnings quarters ever reported have occurred since 2000: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_corporate_prof... (yes, adjusted for inflation). I think there's been plenty of increase in earnings without corresponding increase in worker wages. Not for us. I think we're generally doing fine. But for everyone else.

Looking at earnings is obsolete in times of creative bookkeeping for tax evasion. Look at the pay and bonuses for managers, as they are rising since years it seems those companies have rising earnings. Else those bonuses wouldn't rise every year about 10%. If I compare that against the wages for common worker I think there should be enough space for a few crumbs for common workers.

think of it as a equation. if you increase both sides, its not an increase.

the only way workers wage increase is if the other side do not increase together. if it does, just call it inflation.

Would they, though?

For which business is employee wages 100% of costs?

Where does the money from the higher wages go?

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