Why are oil prices going up?

[seraphson]

Breath.
Feel better?

Sorry if me trying to decipher and understand what was just said offended you; I wasn't aware translating was such a provocative action.

I suppose if all the women worked and the guys stayed home that'd solve our unemployment problem in a jiffy

But then again if we did that we'd have no chance in paying off our neat gizmos and do-dads and other useless shit we simply can't live without; let's see, we got the husband indebted, the wife, hell even the kid owes up before they're even born!

To the point, I personally see nothing wrong with women in the workforce; all it means is more people to increase production at a higher rate; more chances for great talent to be discovered.

[enoch150]

Not only is labor subject to market forces, but the advent of birth control and women's liberation has started a mining operation on human capital which has lowered wages below Ricardo's "iron law of wages" since Ricardo's real law was based on the cost of reproduction, not just the cost of survival. Since we are now mining our women's fertility for labor -- particularly the more intelligent more highly educated women -- the inelasticity of demand for labor has resulted in a plummeting labor compensation rate in terms of precious metals and anything else that matters, such as housing or healthcare -- and that plummeting labor compensation rate has been going on since the early 70s, not just since the bubbles starting in 2000 on.

That sounds very Marxist.

It's also demonstrably wrong.


The above shows total real compensation per hour. In other words, it's compensation (wages + benefits) that workers receive per hour, not just wages.

Few people will argue that Americans ate more per capita in 1929 than today. This graph shows that the food has become progressively cheaper to the American worker

Further proof that the necessities of life have become cheaper in the United States as a result of productivity increases and capitalism.

The above is fun to throw at people who post the now infamous "falling real wages" graph.

Though not very useful by itself, this data is a pertinent reminder of how new technology has not only vastly increased living standards in a way that's immeasurable, but also how new technology has become increasingly affordable over the decades.

If Americans are becoming poorer, then why are they better able to afford day-to-day products?

This puts the "falling real wages" argument in perspective.

Source: http://mises.org/Community/forums/t/15824.aspx