OPINION: Inflation in Burien

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‍Part Eight in a Series on Burien.

Inflation is killing the living standards of the citizens of Burien and the rest of our nation. Inflation is caused by too many dollars chasing too few goods or services. For example, the cost of housing is too few houses chased by too much money, and increasing the money supply without increasing the housing supply will only cause more inflation.

In Burien, one of the misguided attempts to offset inflation is the "Raise the Wage Burien" initiative recently submitted to the City. Promoters are relying on the narrative that low income workers just need more money to create a "living wage." However, by artificially and thoughtlessly raising the wage, we risk destroying the small business base in Burien. And if Burien has fewer businesses, this will drive down the number of jobs, therefore putting downward pressure on wages. The problem will only get worse.

Burien's local issues are reflected in the larger, national issue, and it cannot be separated. No municipality is an island.

In the Presidential race, the issue of what to do about inflation has surfaced. Understanding the dynamics causing inflation are key to dealing with inflation.

The root cause of inflation is the increasing generation of debt, both private and public, which now for the U.S. is about $93 trillion, without increasing the physical wealth of the society. This makes it hard for the volume of economic activity to service and/or pay off the interest expanding existing debt. This leads to either defaults on the debt, or more debt must be created, creating what is called the “debt bubble” to roll over the debt. Eventually the increasing monetary emission to keep the debt solvent leads to either inflation or a crash.

This root cause is further exacerbated by policies that have driven up the international market prices of the primary sources of energy used in everything. These policies are largely caused by climate change religious beliefs that curtail oil and natural gas production that drives up market prices. Since everything produced and transported depends on carbon-based fuels, this also fuels inflation.

One of the Presidential candidates is proposing wage and price controls. This does not address the underlying causes, but merely bankrupts the businesses that can’t pass their costs to the consumer. Another Presidential candidate is proposing dramatically increasing carbon-based fuel extraction and production, along with tariffs, and a dramatic increase in the production of physical wealth to back the debt with real value, instead of increasing monetary emission to keep rolling over self-expanding existing debt.

National policies surrounding the dynamics of inflation will certainly affect Burien's residents and commercial interests.

‍Mr. Glumaz is former US Congressional candidate, who has been analyzing governmental systems for over four decades. As a former Marxist and former committed atheist, he brings a unique perspective to societal and governmental structures. His primary concern is Washington State and King County, and he has recently become acutely aware of the unique oppression that Burien, a small business centered community, has been experiencing. The recent lawsuits by the KC Sheriff, homeless and homeless advocates, King County's sanctioned homeless encampment, and the "Raise the Wage Burien" initiative, have caused him to question, "Why Burien?"

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