Shareholders vs stakeholders

The Nobel Prize in Economics was announced a few days ago. One of the winners, David Card, had studied the effect of raising the minimum wage in the 1990s and had shown that it did not raise unemployment significantly. Having no formal training in the dismal science, this was the first I heard about this work. Whenever the issue of raising the minimum wage is brought up, opponents (usually Republicans) invariably bring up the "fact" that this will raise unemployment. I don't recall proponents (or the press) ever quoting Card's work to support their case and debunk the false claim. The current economic situation in our country, and indeed to some extent worldwide, is paradoxical in that there are apparently large numbers of job openings co-existing with a large number of unemployed people. COVID-related unemployment benefits are blamed for this phenomenon, usually by the same people who oppose minimum wage increases. After all, the thinking goes, why would you work if you get paid not to? Intellectual laziness makes it easy to go along with this line of thinking. And thinking is what they don't want us to do. Dr. Card did what is called a "natural experiment" comparing minimum wage workers in neighboring areas of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I am sure there are researchers compiling data from the current nation-wide phenomenon. Here's what such research may show. Wages at the lower end of the scale, not just minimum wage, have stagnated for so long that the people earning those wages are finally saying "no more". The combination of the economic slow-down, fear of contracting the disease and the demands of child care have resulted in a perfect storm. If market forces were to dictate our actions the solution is obvious - wage increases. For some reason, those who normally are all about the free market are less receptive. Their reactions range from deploring government hand-outs encouraging laziness and sapping the moral fiber to fears of rising consumer prices and inflation. Could it be that the interests of working people takes a back seat to the interests of corporations who are, coincidentally, big donors to political campaigns? Can we blame them? This scenario has played out repeatedly with predictable results in the past. The difference is that this time the scale of the dysfunction is nationwide. The number of people who are directly affected is so large that their unhappiness might tilt the balance in the next election. Republicans appear to have painted themselves into a corner with their long-standing allegiance to big business and their new-found infatuation with Trump. Do Democrats have the vision and courage to take advantage of the situation? There is a big difference between shareholders and stakeholders. The former own stock in a company and are entitled to dividend income. The latter are less well-defined and include those working for the company but also those buying its products. Recently, they have been increasingly vociferous in wielding their influence. I would posit that when we talk about our country, the stakeholders are We the People. Isn't it time we made ourselves heard?