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Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
wages haven't necessarily kept up with inflation. I know I still make about the same as I did in 2020, definitely not anywhere near 25% more than I did back then
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As usual, the middle class take the punch to the gut. Entry level wages have skyrocketed to where any talk of increasing the minimum wage is a moot point. Hardly anyone works for minimum wage anymore, as the market is paying almost 3x that.
I didn't get a raise in response to crazy inflation, and there was not any loss of business during the pandemic because cancer doesn't quarantine.
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Let's hope it's a couple more years. But some are saying this could last for decades. I don't think prices will ever come down. The question is if wages will increase to those prices or people will just do what they always do, keep on trying to get into big expensive vehicles. Even before 2020 the economic car was dying. The reason there were cheap cars was because people didn't want them. At least in America, nearly everyone wants a big, expensive SUV or pickup. Well, that's what they want so that's what's available. What any minority want's doesn't matter.
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I'm an optimist, so that's why I choose to believe it will just be a couple years. That said, I see every reason why vehicles could remain very expensive for a decade or more. It took decades to offshore everything, so it can take that long to onshore, and US labor is not cheap, so that cost will be reflected in the price of goods made here.
In the long-term (1-2 decades) the price of most everything will be much less as automation and AI reduce the cost of physical and mental labor. Just as machines level the physical playing field (a weak man can operate a fork lift just as a strong man), AI will tend to level the mental playing field. Weak thinkers with access to AI will have supplemental thinking in their back pocket, increasing the value of their decision making.
Within my lifetime, UBI will be necessary, and personal vehicle ownership optional.