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Comment by maerF0x0 | Hacker News Reader

And if he did there'd be massive inflation in all the things his employees tend to buy.

This is analogous to when bruce almighty grants every wins the lottery... https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/71323533-cf3e-4176-b9f1-b22cfa0...

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875,000 people spread all around the world isn't a lot. The grocery stores in a city of 100,000 people aren't going to raise their prices because the 50 people who work in the local amazon fulfillment center have moved into the upper middle class. Maybe you'd see a slight rise in property values near major Amazon facilities, but in few other cases do amazon employees make up a significant portion of total demand.

A one-off sub-$200k payment isn't going to move a fulfillment center worker to upper middle class.

Well that's probably not true, if they tend to buy it, wouldn't they already have it? I mean, when you see people win the lotto what's most common is they start buying luxury goods they couldn't afford before. That and paying off student loans/debt

You're focusing your argument on a specific person while ignoring the point about how a global increase in liquidity triggers global inflation.

Maybe, im no economist but wouldnt the psychological effects of cash windfalls be more applicable? I doubt these amounts would have much effect in the scheme of the global markets

This is actually a really good argument for not tying wages to company success. The baseline wage for Amazon employees should simply be the cost that it takes to house and feed them which is entirely different from the value they produce.

So you are saying they are way overpaid?

What incentive does Jeff have to pay Amazon employees any more than that?

No the baseline wage is what the market will bear. Employment is subjected to market forces just like the goods and services those employees produce. The common example is underwater welders: high demand, low supply (high danger factor) results in $300k/yr salary. Welders at the local muffler shop in my area pay around $20/hr, highly skilled welders get between $75-$100/hr depending on if their independent or work for a large shop, and experience.

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