Should people get used to low wages?

Unemployment has fallen substantially in the US. "Employers added 211,000 jobs last month, reducing unemployment rate to 4.4 percent, a level last reached 10 years ago," wrote Danny Vinik. But there is a problem. "Since 2010, nominal wages have grown about 2.5 percent each year, while inflation has averaged 2 percent. Perhaps, most concerning, as the labor market has tightened, wage growth hasn't accelerated." Why? It maybe because a large number of people have dropped out of the labor market and are not counted in unemployment figures. A broader index called U-6 is at 8.6%, lower than 9.4% in January, but still higher than 7.9% pre-crisis level. Many believe that wages are not increasing because productivity is low while others say that it could be because some companies have grown so big that they are operating as monopolies which gives them enormous bargaining power. The main reason for the soaring salaries of CEOs, while wages of workers are forced down, is because of the principle of 'maximizing shareholder value', wrote Joe Nocera. "It has widened income inequality. It has rewarded short-term 'make the quarter' thinking over long-term value creation." "It is why drug prices have risen so obscenely, why airlines have made flying such a miserable experience and why wages have remained stagnant even as profits have soared." Airlines get away with bad service because they are relative monopolies and because terrible service forces passengers to upgrade, giving them more money. Many young people have given up on formal jobs and are earning a living from the 'gig economy', wrote Nathan Heller. Some are earning decent amounts of money by renting out spare rooms on Airbnb. But only those who live in nice apartments can attract tenants and by taking away guests from hotels they put millions of service jobs in jeopardy. Because these people are outside the formal sector they have no protection. In India, drivers working for Uber and Ola have no trade union to bargain for their rights, no provident fund and no pension arrangement, wrote Anil Padmanabhan. While wages of workers are stagnant large firms are holding more than $2.6 trillion in offshore accounts so as to avoid paying taxes in the US. Less tax means more profits and more bonuses for the executives. Zombie companies are drawing away finance which should be utilised to improve productivity by using technology, wrote Mann and Andrews. Perhaps, increasing productivity without increasing demand is fruitless. The wealthy live in a world in which beaches are covered with carpets, so that shoes do not get dirty, and where pyramids are sealed off from the public so that a man could propose to his girlfriend, at a cost of $40 million. That is why people are angry and Tomi Lahren will not shut up. The world is changing, the weak are being left out.