Category Archives: Income disparity

Striking a Bargain: Narrative Identification of Wage Bargaining Shocks

Workers and employers bargain over the surplus income generated by an employment relationship. This column uses information about key events in Germany relevant for wage negotiations, like labour strikes and the introduction of a minimum wage, to pinpoint changes in bargaining power between workers and employers. It finds that such wage bargaining ‘shocks’ are important drivers of unemployment and inflation and that their effect on wages is almost fully reflected in prices. Furthermore, they reduce the vacancy rate and increase firms’ profits and the labour share of income in the short run, but not in the long run.

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America, Land of the Dying? Alarming Study Shows U.S. Killing Its Own Population

American became an outlier among rich countries in mortality rates pre pandemic, and Americans are dying younger than their peers abroad.

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Hubert Horan: Can Uber Ever Deliver? Part Thirty-One: Uber’s Legitimate Cumulative Losses Top $32 Billion; P&L Improvements Driven by Much Higher Fares and Multi-Billion Dollar Transfers From Drivers to Shareholders

Even big fare hikes and cuts to driver pay have failed to produce profits at Uber. And these pricing changes are not likely to be sustainable.

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