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--:-- John Bickley: Record numbers of workers quit their jobs in August, a development that comes as many industries are already suffering massive staffing shortages. What's behind the troubling trend, and what does it mean for the fragile post-lockdown economy?
--:-- John Bickley: I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, October 15th, and this is Morning Wire. Christmas is 71 days away. Is your shopping done, Georgia?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Nope, not at all.
--:-- John Bickley: We'll tell you why experts are warning that supply chain backlogs are threatening to cripple the upcoming holiday buying season. And last week, leaders from around the world struck a deal to enact a global minimum tax on corporations. How will this affect the U.S., and why are some lawmakers sounding the alarm about it?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: This show is sponsored by Podium. If you own a business, you know there aren't enough hours in a day to waste playing phone tag. That's why local businesses everywhere turn to Podium. Podium makes every interaction as easy as sending a text. So everything that makes your business great can get done faster. Get started free today at Podium.com slash wire. That's Podium.com slash wire.
--:-- John Bickley: As the economy continues its slow recovery from the COVID lockdowns, new data shows that the number of Americans quitting their jobs hit a record level in August. According to a new report from the Department of Labor, 4.3 million people voluntarily left their jobs.
--:-- John Bickley: Here with more on what's causing the surge and the impact it's having is Daily Wire managing editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, just to put that in perspective, that's just under 3% of the entire U.S. workforce. The timing here really couldn't be worse either as there's already a massive labor shortage with 10.4 million open jobs at the moment.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, it is worth noting that this doesn't mean 4.3 million people left the workforce altogether, just that they voluntarily left the jobs they had. Most of those people either left for other jobs or said they were confident they'd find other work.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the big question here is obviously why. What can you tell us about, you know, why so many people are quitting?
--:-- John Bickley: So we don't have specific data on the reason people left, but there are a few leading theories. The main one right now is that workers are realizing just how much leverage they have right now. They're looking around and seeing millions of job openings and hearing stories about massive signing bonuses for new employees and increased wages at businesses across the board.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Can't wait to get one of those. So a lot of folks are saying, hey, if my boss won't give me a raise, I know for a fact there are better options out there for me. And as we know, labor shortages give the power to the labor, aka workers.
--:-- John Bickley: Another main theory is that vaccine mandates are driving people out of the workforce. So even though President Biden's federal order hasn't been implemented yet, a lot of larger employers are getting ahead of the curve and requiring vaccines on their own.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And with roughly three in 10 Americans still holding out on getting the shot, it makes sense that you'd see a substantial number of people leaving their jobs over the vaccine. Remember that appears to be what happened with Southwest Airlines earlier this month.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, we been watching that story and it seems like it having an impact.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So which industries have been most heavily affected? The data there is pretty interesting. By far, the number one industry was food services, where over 800,000 people quit their jobs. Next was retail with 721,000. And third was healthcare. Over half a million healthcare and social assistance workers quit their jobs in August.
--:-- John Bickley: And again, that kind of aligns with what we've seen out of places like New York and California, where nurses and doctors resigned en masse in those instances because of vaccine mandates. Well, and some were fired, right? We saw with one New York healthcare provider alone fired over a thousand employees.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yep. And there are even more cases that just haven't gotten that kind of media coverage.
--:-- John Bickley: What sort of impact are we expecting all this to have? It's probably going to be bad in the short term because what we're seeing means increased delays in the supply chain as shipping, manufacturing, and agricultural jobs have been the hardest hit by the worker shortage.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It also means that prices on common products will be higher as businesses try to make up for lost production. It's economics 101.
--:-- John Bickley: Economists are also concerned that as employers raise wages and prices even more to try and attract workers and offset lost costs, inflation will accelerate beyond what we're seeing now, which is really saying something because we're already seeing record inflation rates.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, so can you give us any kind of optimism here? Is there any insight to this labor shortage and these problems?
--:-- John Bickley: You know me, John. I'm the eternal optimist. But on this one, it just depends on who you ask. A lot of experts say the shortage will probably dissipate in the coming months as schools open more fully and parents no longer have to stay home with their kids.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They also note that federal COVID unemployment benefits ended in September, meaning people who'd been intentionally unemployed they'd no longer have that chance to get government checks without having a job.
--:-- John Bickley: But there are others who say that COVID lockdowns forever changed the way workers view work and that they're not going to be willing to go back into the labor market until they were offered increased flexibility, higher wages and better benefits.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It's just going to be a waiting game at this point.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah. Meanwhile, the economy is struggling. Yeah, it is.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Cabot, thanks for the update.
--:-- John Bickley: Anytime. That's Daily Wire managing editor, Cabot Phillips.
--:-- John Bickley: Coming up, the widespread supply chain problems are getting worse. Inflation is destroying the dollar. Birch Gold Group can help protect your IRA or 401k with a precious metals IRA. Text WIRE to 989898 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver. There's zero obligation. Text the word WIRE to 989898 to protect your savings today.
--:-- John Bickley: The Biden administration announced this week that supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may keep people from receiving presents in time for Christmas. Even though the administration said that some items may not arrive in time for the holidays, it also said that people shouldn't be panicking.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss the ongoing situation is Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short.
--:-- Ash Short: Well, it all goes back to supply chain disruptions started during the coronavirus pandemic. International shutdowns, which labeled many workers as non-essential, led to shipping delays and a labor shortage at the same time that people who were stuck in their homes were ordering more online.
--:-- John Bickley: Other issues, such as restrictions on air travel, contributed to disruptions with sending cargo by air, which led to an increased need for transatlantic cargo ships. That, in turn, led to congestion at ports and was made even worse by a shortage of cross-country truckers.
--:-- Ash Short: Keep in mind this problem is poised to get worse if more supply chain workers quit over mandates. There are indications that what happened with Southwest the grounding of thousands of flights over the weekend could spread to trucking unions.
--:-- John Bickley: So basically we still just dealing with the effects of the pandemic shutdown.
--:-- Ash Short: Not entirely. There's also the steep increase in inflation and the continued employment crisis, which have more to do with government policy than COVID.
--:-- John Bickley: And is the White House taking any action to address this?
--:-- Ash Short: A White House spokesman this week called on Walmart, FedEx, and UPS to, quote, step up to help solve these problems, announcing that the three largest goods carriers had made commitments to a 24-7 shipping schedule and working off-peak hours.
--:-- John Bickley: They've also ordered the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach to work around the clock to relieve the backlog. The spokesman also said the White House was in discussions with Target, Samsung, and Home Depot to make the same commitments.
--:-- Ash Short: So the administration is basically urging large companies to help solve this problem.
--:-- John Bickley: When a reporter asked Press Secretary Jen Psaki about what the administration could do to guarantee that holiday packages would arrive on time, she basically said they would try their best, but there's a limit to what the government can really do in this situation.
--:-- Ash Short: We are not the Postal Service or UPS or FedEx. We cannot guarantee. What we can do is use every lever at the federal government disposal, and we can continue to press not only workers and unions, but also companies to take as many steps as they can to reduce these delays.
--:-- John Bickley: President Biden pressed private companies to step up and fix the problem, threatening to call out those companies who don't. However, as I said earlier, there are a lot of factors contributing to the issue.
--:-- Ash Short: When the president was pressed by reporters about whether Christmas presents would arrive on time, he declined to answer.
--:-- John Bickley: So what advice do you have for people who are hoping to get their holiday shopping done on time? Because of the comments made by the White House, people are likely ordering online right now, which could further strain the supply chain.
--:-- Ash Short: The Biden administration suggested that people may be able to substitute some gifts for others that don't need to be shipped. probably the best advice would be to do your holiday shopping in person instead of relying on shipping companies.
--:-- John Bickley: So main takeaway, start your shopping now and do it in person.
--:-- Ash Short: Exactly.
--:-- John Bickley: Ash, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Ash Short: You're welcome. That's Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short.
--:-- John Bickley: Last Friday, more than 100 countries around the world endorsed an agreement to enact a global minimum tax on corporations. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said she's confident that Congress will include this new tax in its upcoming reconciliation package.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to tell us what this means for the economy is Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
--:-- Ben Johnson: The global minimum tax adopted last Friday means that nations around the world agree to charge no less than a 15 percent corporate tax on businesses operating in their country. Locking in this rate effectively bars other nations from competing by offering lower corporate tax rates.
--:-- John Bickley: Proponents of the agreement say it would make international business more fair. 136 countries signed on to this statement from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, and agreed to implement the global minimum tax by 2023.
--:-- Ben Johnson: The most controversial feature of this plan is what's known as a top-up mechanism, which works like this. If one participating nation charges a corporate tax rate of less than 15%, the nation where that company is headquartered can charge the company the difference for the activities in other nations.
--:-- John Bickley: So if Amazon only paid a 10 tax rate in another nation the U government could claim the difference of sales in that nation in this case 5
--:-- Ben Johnson: So basically if you a large company the IRS can still tax your revenue even if you move to another country
--:-- John Bickley: That's exactly right. And if the U.S. ever cut its corporate tax rate, other nations' tax agencies could tax U.S. sales.
--:-- Ben Johnson: I asked Congressman Kevin Brady, the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, about the top-up provision. This is a sovereignty issue in a major way. They essentially replace our Made in America tax code with a tax code made in foreign countries. It is constitutionally, I think, suspect in a big way as well.
--:-- John Bickley: Congressman Brady said the global minimum tax of 15 percent shows how much it would damage the economy to adopt President Biden's plan to hike the U.S. effective corporate tax rate to 31 percent.
--:-- Ben Johnson: At the end of the day, the global minimum tax, the higher corporate taxes, and the changes in international law make it better to be a foreign worker or company than an American one.
--:-- John Bickley: So this is an international agreement, but OECD policies don't have legal status in the United States. So how would this become a U.S. law?
--:-- Ben Johnson: Right. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that Congress will include the global minimum tax as part of the president's multi-trillion dollar reconciliation package. that would allow this to become law without any Republican votes.
--:-- John Bickley: Congressman Brady said that elevates the importance of preventing the passage of any reconciliation package. So as Republicans and as conservatives, our fight is not to make this package smaller. It is to defeat it.
--:-- Ben Johnson: I think two out of three Americans believe our top foreign policy priority ought to be protecting the jobs of American workers, not shipping them overseas.
--:-- John Bickley: And how likely is it that Congress will actually pass something like this?
--:-- Ben Johnson: Well, that depends on who you ask. If congressional Democrats can agree on the terms of the reconciliation package, Secretary Yellen says she's confident the global minimum tax will be part of that. But Kevin Brady thinks she's misjudging the situation.
--:-- Ben Johnson: Here's what I predict. That agreement is going to make it better to be a foreign company worker than the U.S. one. And it will take a big bite out of America's tax base, meaning we'll have less revenue to fund government services in the future.
--:-- John Bickley: I don't think that's an agreement either Americans or Congress will accept.
--:-- Ben Johnson: Ben, thanks for reporting.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for the opportunity. That's Ben Johnson of The Daily Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Other stories we're tracking this week. L.A. County's sheriff announced on behalf of his department Thursday that they're, quote, not going to be the COVID police.
--:-- John Bickley: Sheriff Alex Villanueva confirmed that officers will continue to respond to calls from businesses as needed, but that businesses, and not his office, will be responsible for the enforcement of COVID policies.
--:-- John Bickley: Villanueva also confirmed that officers will have the option to take a weekly COVID test in lieu of vaccination.
--:-- John Bickley: And transgender Netflix employees plan to walk out in protest of the online streaming platform's refusal to pull Dave Chappelle's new comedy special.
--:-- John Bickley: The walkout, planned for October 20th, is in protest of the comedian's, quote, transphobic jokes.
--:-- John Bickley: If you liked this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five-star review.
--:-- John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: If you like this podcast, get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox when you join at dailywire.com slash subscribe. Use code MORNINGWIRE to try a Reader's Pass membership and get your first month for only 99 cents.
