Interestingly, one narrative of the current market turmoil is that higher wages will spark runway inflation.  It’s a notion so farfetched, it’s hard to believe so many people are regurgitating it on financial television and radio.  To be sure, at some point, higher wages could trigger the classic scenario of too much money chasing too few goods. For now, we are far away from that situation.

Take this Job 

The interesting part comes today with the release of the JOLTs report showing quits at the highest level in 16 years.  Only construction and finance saw month to month declines on quits.   All industries saw year to year increases.  People are telling their boss to take this job…  We know Janet Yellen was concerned such action could be a harbinger of higher wages.

Since the release of the report, the market has moved higher.  This could be incidental, as we are amid wild gyrations that are bouncing the major indices from one end of the spectrum to another.   I still find it compelling because we should be rooting for higher wages, which are only two decades overdue.