Mr Muldoon’s report card

Press, 9 April 1980, Page 18

Mr Muldoon’s report card

Sir. — F. Robinson (Marell 27) repeats a fallacy, or more correctly, a deliberate piece of obscurantism, designed specifically to discourage demands for wagerises when he writes, “any wage-rise, no matter how reasonable must cause inflation, if not supported by -increased production.” Given that demands for higher wages are made only when price increases have demonstrably caused wages to fall behind living costs, how 7 can a wage-rise, “no matter how reasonable” cause inflation? Furthermore, if a wage-rise won by a strike must be accompanied by a rise in production, presumably by the workers who have won a wage-rise, how can it be a wage-rise? Increased production as a condition of wagerises, can be achieved only bv a greater expenditure of the worker’s labour power, the commodity which he sells. Increased production eauivalent to his wage increase would logically cancel the latter. — Yours, etc., M. CREEL. 4 -. April 1, 1980.