To the Editor:
I have been thinking about the relationship between inflation and the common good. We know that inflation means a spiraling rise in prices. What we mean by the common good is less clear. To me it refers to the collective definition of what we as a society want and cooperative action to achieve a good outcome that benefits us all. We define the common good together; it is not imposed on us from above. It also does not benefit the few at the expense of the many.
Inflation is a good example of a threat to the common good. How we deal with inflation also indicates how serious we are about working together to help each other. Current estimates indicate that a sharp rise in corporate profits is causing about 72% of the price increases we face. For example, energy companies such as ExxonMobil are raking in net profits on an unprecedented scale. That company alone netted $17.9 billion in one quarter of this year, its highest take ever.
In the midst of corporate price gouging, the Federal Reserve is concerned that low unemployment has given workers too much power to negotiate for fairer wages and benefits. The truth is that only about 8% of recent price rises are due to wage increases. Nonetheless, the Federal Reserve’s solution to inflation is to increase unemployment by raising interest rates. The reason? Higher unemployment weakens the bargaining power of workers, especially if they are not in unions. Inflation cools as workers make less, or nothing if unemployed, and prices drop. Corporations continue to profit, but now by paying their workers less. In other words, the Federal Reserve has decided that workers must bear the real costs of curbing inflation, and corporate profits are to be protected by all means. This in no way serves the common good.
We have a choice this November. Vote for candidates that will serve the common good by taxing corporate windfall profits, reigning in price gouging, and protecting workers’ rights to fair wages. Or, vote for those who put corporate profits over the needs of working families. Both approaches reduce inflation but only the first option does so in ways that serve the common good.
Sincerely,
Ed Schortman
Gambier, OH
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