[Robert Urbanek]

In the 2011 movie In Time, citizens accumulate time, not money to spend, in values that are recorded on a clock in their arms. Run out of your time and you die. Naturally, an elite has accumulated most of the time while those living in ghettos may only have enough time to get through the next day.

Justin Timberlake portrays the hero who robs a time bank to give time credits to the poor. But soon after, all the prices are increased to recapture the time redistributed to the underclass.

Are we living “In Time”, when the “system” colludes against the lower classes by raising prices to compensate for any advantage the workers may temporarily achieve? For a while, with the labor shortage, it seemed that workers had the upper hand in demanding higher pay and better working conditions.

True, most of the recent inflation can be attributed to COVID supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine. But how much of the inflation is really price fixing by powerful interests?

[ness31]

Yep. It’s always been about stealing workers time. The average 38-40 hour week is inhumane.

[Puffer Fish]

Are we living “In Time”, when the “system” colludes against the lower classes by raising prices to compensate for any advantage the workers may temporarily achieve?

I think you may be (in part) talking about an economic concept called Wage-Price Spiral Inflation.

Wages go up, but then that does lead to some additional inflation.

For a while, with the labor shortage, it seemed that workers had the upper hand in demanding higher pay and better working conditions.

I believe this is a separate issue from inflation. It has to do with market equilibrium forces.

True, most of the recent inflation can be attributed to COVID supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine.

I disagree with that. I think that is a media lie. The government ran massive budget deficits during the "COVID" time, and even the year before that huge amounts of money were being spent on Progressive's ambitious plans.