In confirmation of the contention that " the vicious spiral'
is not a question of rising wages only but of rising salaries. someone sends me a list of proposed increases in the remunera• tion of various officials of Liverpool Corporation. Mr. A. B. for example, is to rise from £2,500 to £2,750, Mr. C. D. from £1,700 to £2,000, Mr. E. F. from £2,000 to £2,250, and so on down to Mr. Y. Z., who goes from £700 to £800. I as not quite sure about this. It no doubt provides the wage- earners with justification for demanding corresponding rises and it increases purchasing-power without increasing commo- dities, but it does not create inflation in the sense of adding to the cost of production and therefore sending retail prices 1'7 and thus stimulating the workers to ask for more wages still to meet the increased cost of living.
* * * *
Previous page
