In this article from EdSurge.com, the author outlines how rising inflation in the US is putting the squeeze on early childhood education. Unfortunately, there are many parts of the article that omit helpful contextual information or skip the issue of causality altogether.
For example, inflation. Inflation is cumulative. The official numbers released by our government result from a changing matrix of factors that aim to keep the number as low as possible. But, the official number (currently about 8% for California) is used during budget and salary discussions. Thus, this unreal number puts the squeeze on educators (who are some of the lowest paid professionals in the country). As an example of this, I’m working on an expired contract. My union is asking for a 20% pay rise over the next two years. You might recoil at that figure. But, if you examine the real inflation numbers (not the massaged numbers you get from the government), we’re at about 15% inflation for 2022. Remember, inflation is cumulative. So, this 15% is added to the roughly 13% for 2021 and the 12% for 2020. Thus, the purchasing power of my wage has gone down by 15%+13%+12%, or 40%. As such, the 20% ask only gets us half of the way back to where we were in 2020. Such is the problem with our fiat money.
Then there’s the outright omission. Sure, the price of eggs has doubled in the last week. The news is reporting a massive culling of the poultry stocks due to bird flu and holiday demand as primary reasons for this. But there is something that is not being reported widely. What is being hidden is that grocery chains are refusing to pay a fair and transparent price for the eggs that they buy from producers. This is happening with meat as well. The big oligarchies have decided to cap the prices they’re willing to pay to producers. As costs to produce meat and eggs increase, producers can’t pass this along to the stores. The stores cap costs, but raise prices anyways as they must do when supplies dwindle. This is why their profits are sky high in the face of shortages … shortages that they created.
So, it’s no wonder that those of us on the lower rungs of the economic ladder are feeling the squeeze. There’s an alternative to this economic death spiral. Hopefully, the people in the global north have the courage to consider it.
How Inflation Is Squeezing Educators
How Inflation Is Squeezing Educators
How Inflation Is Squeezing Educators
In this article from EdSurge.com, the author outlines how rising inflation in the US is putting the squeeze on early childhood education. Unfortunately, there are many parts of the article that omit helpful contextual information or skip the issue of causality altogether.
For example, inflation. Inflation is cumulative. The official numbers released by our government result from a changing matrix of factors that aim to keep the number as low as possible. But, the official number (currently about 8% for California) is used during budget and salary discussions. Thus, this unreal number puts the squeeze on educators (who are some of the lowest paid professionals in the country). As an example of this, I’m working on an expired contract. My union is asking for a 20% pay rise over the next two years. You might recoil at that figure. But, if you examine the real inflation numbers (not the massaged numbers you get from the government), we’re at about 15% inflation for 2022. Remember, inflation is cumulative. So, this 15% is added to the roughly 13% for 2021 and the 12% for 2020. Thus, the purchasing power of my wage has gone down by 15%+13%+12%, or 40%. As such, the 20% ask only gets us half of the way back to where we were in 2020. Such is the problem with our fiat money.
Then there’s the outright omission. Sure, the price of eggs has doubled in the last week. The news is reporting a massive culling of the poultry stocks due to bird flu and holiday demand as primary reasons for this. But there is something that is not being reported widely. What is being hidden is that grocery chains are refusing to pay a fair and transparent price for the eggs that they buy from producers. This is happening with meat as well. The big oligarchies have decided to cap the prices they’re willing to pay to producers. As costs to produce meat and eggs increase, producers can’t pass this along to the stores. The stores cap costs, but raise prices anyways as they must do when supplies dwindle. This is why their profits are sky high in the face of shortages … shortages that they created.
So, it’s no wonder that those of us on the lower rungs of the economic ladder are feeling the squeeze. There’s an alternative to this economic death spiral. Hopefully, the people in the global north have the courage to consider it.