Did You Cause Inflation?

Have you ever asked for a raise? When you receive a raise in pay, your employer has to factor that in somehow, either they make less profit for themselves, or they raise prices. Is it no surprise that when minimum wage goes up, so does the cost of everything, particularly those items in industries that pay minimum wage, such as restaurants and coffee shops? Before anyone gets all in arms about living on a lower wage, I work at only slightly above minimum wage, have never asked for a raise, yet have saved for, and bought my own home, and was a single parent for five years.

Are you a part of a Union? Unions often make high demands on employers which of course cost the business money and inflate prices. You pay union dues and as a group, people, feel stronger and work together to get more. Typically if you have two businesses, where one is union and the other is not, the prices in the union business will be higher. As unions demand more and more (not just raises, but other concessions too, such as paid days off) from employers the cost of goods rises.

Have you ever stolen from a business? Whether from your employer or an other store, if you have stolen anything the cost of that item has to be recovered. Many stores and businesses raise their prices when they are in an area of higher theft. Sometimes they not only have to raise prices to cover for the lost merchandise, but additionally to pay for the cost of more security.

Have you ever taken Hotel soap? Using something when you need it is fine, but a lot of Hotel guests take the soap and shampoos out of the Hotel and home with them. Hotels have to factor this in somehow. You might wonder what is the difference between using it and taking it. Well the difference is you needed it, if you didn't need it, and didn't take it, it would still be there, and wouldn't need to be accounted for in terms of increased Hotel costs. You might think Hotel costs only effect you if you are traveling, but ultimately they reflect on a lot of things, since sales reps have to stay in Hotels, surely that cost must be passed on, and the consumer is who will pay. Pennies, perhaps, but every drop in the bucket counts.

Do you take more than you need? More often we can blame kids on this, taking more toilet paper than they need, and so on. Taking more ketchup packages at fast food places, more napkins, more paper towels to dry their hands. Again who do you think pays for these things? Ultimately you do through the cost of your goods. Even washrooms in public places must be paid for, in parks this is through city taxes, in malls this is through lease rates to shop keepers. Other crimes include taking brochures for places or events you are not planning on attending, taking, or requesting, catalogs only for your reading intention with no intent on a purchase. Accepting flyers in your mail box that you will never read. As we continue to take more than we need, prices are raised to cover expenses.