Richard D. Wolff

Hello Prof. Wolff, My question is this: how can employers be incentivized (positively or negatively) to pay their employees fairer or even living wages? If some kind of government interaction were enacted, it would need to be not so Keynesian as taxing employers to re-distribute wealth. Our right wing would kill any plan like that, and people on the left should liberate themselves from needing government help, and better yet, liberating themselves from having to borrow so much money. Could a compromise of A) state/federal government(s) assessing what a true living wage is & enacting it through the Department of Labor & B) deterring employers from reducing force out of retaliation to updated wage standards be plausible? The companies are winning right now, and with unemployment so low (more income tax being paid) the government is in a way winning, but working people are stuck. Thanks, for what you do!