This generation of SPOILED BRATS got used to tons of third-world labor and never invested in automation. These changes should have happened many decades ago. David Autor is right to celebrate worker shortages: “Let’s say that you like cheap burgers and don’t lose sleep over the low wages burger flippers earn. Would it bother you to know that their well-being is subsidized by taxpayers? Members of the bottom fifth of U.S. households receive an average of $9,500 per person per year in means-tested government benefits like Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps. More than 20 percent of income for the poorest fifth of households comes from refundable tax credits like the earned-income tax credit, which supports low-wage families with children. So, one reason companies can pay such low wages is that you’re paying for the things their low-wage workers can’t afford.”
