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Despite a willingness to pay workers more, many firms are having trouble filling vacancies. Nearly half of American companies complain that they are finding it difficult to fill one or more jobs. “It is hard to tell how much it costs to hire someone because you can’t find anyone,” sighs Mr Goldman. His “help wanted” ads often go unanswered; many of those who respond fail to turn up for interviews. Given Americans’ apparent reluctance to get back to work, whether because of continued fears of covid-19, generous unemployment insurance, or both, wages may have further to rise.
盡管許多公司愿意給員工加薪，但他們還是難以填補職位空缺。近一半的美國公司發出抱怨，他們發現很難填補一個或多個職位。“很難說雇傭一個人要花多少錢，因為你找不到任何人，”戈德曼感嘆道。他的“招聘廣告”經常得不到回應；很多回復的人也沒有來面試。鑒于美國人顯然不愿重返工作崗位，無論是因為繼續擔心會感染新冠、還是因為慷慨的失業保險，或者兩者兼而有之，工資可能還會進一步上漲。
If inflation does prove stickier, some companies will contemplate shifting production to places with more plentiful and cheaper labour. All three firms advised by Mr Tayur, for example, are pondering whether and where to move, within America and farther afield. Others may want to get rid of human workers altogether. America Inc has ramped up business investment by 15% this year. Part of this is going towards automation, and not just in manufacturing. Erik Gordon of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business points to restaurant chains, some of which are installing automatic grills and developing apps that enable diners to place orders remotely rather than at the counter, which allows fewer staff to focus on making and serving food. As hotels reopen, robot floor-cleaners are becoming more common.
如果事實證明，通脹確實更加棘手，一些公司將考慮將生產轉移到勞動力更充足且更廉價的地方。例如，塔尤爾提供咨詢服務的這三家公司都在考慮是否以及向何處遷移，是在美國國內還是更遠的地方。其他公司可能想徹底擺脫人類工人。美國公司今年增加了15%的商業投資。其中部分投資注入了自動化，而不僅僅是在制造業。密歇根大學羅斯商學院的瑞克·戈登指出連鎖餐廳的現狀，其中一些店正在安裝自動烤架并開發使食客能夠脫離柜臺、遠程點餐的應用程序，以此提高員工對制作食物和上餐的專注度。隨著酒店重新開業，機器人地板清潔工也越來越普遍。
Many such productivity-boosting investments make good business sense even in a low-inflation world. That is the outcome which many chief executives will still be hoping for. It is certainly what policymakers are banking on. In the 1980s the Securities and Exchange Commission required companies to publish balance-sheets and income statements both in nominal terms and adjusted for inflation. This requirement has been watered down over the years. In November the markets regulator appears to have all but binned the last explicit vestige of it. It would be ironic if this now proved premature.
即使在低通脹的世界里，許多這樣提高生產率的投資也有很好的商業意義。這是許多首席執行官仍然希望看到的結果。這無疑是決策者所指望的。在20世紀80年代，美國證券交易委員會要求公司公布資產負債表和損益表，包括名義值和通貨膨脹調整值。多年來，這一要求已被簡化。去年11月，市場監管機構似乎已經將該要求的最后一個明顯痕跡全部抹去。如果現在證明這一點為時過早，那就太諷刺了。
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