> The disputes within ruling classes everywhere seem to turn on where
> to locate the tipping point, and how much reform is necessary and
> possible. Isn't that the case in relation to Iraq, social spending,
> the dollar, and other issues today?
<blockquote>US Treasuries up on signs of muted wage inflation Thu Nov 3, 2005 9:18 AM ET NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices rose on Thursday morning as third-quarter unit labor costs unexpectedly declined, giving the Federal Reserve breathing room to conduct its policy of "measured" interest rate increases.
Unit labor costs, a closely watched measure of job market inflation, fell 0.5 percent in the third quarter, the government said. Economists had expected costs to rise 2.0 percent. The government also revised down a rise in second-quarter unit labor costs to 1.8 percent from 2.5 percent previously.
"The bond market responded positively to the fact that inflation pressures from the cost side are diminished," said Pierre Ellis, senior economist, Decision Economics in New York.
Signs of rising costs scare investors out of the bond market because inflation erodes the value of fixed-income investments. So any signs of benign price pressures can stoke buying, particularly when it relates to wages, which make up about 70 percent of U.S. business costs. <http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx? type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-11-03T141827Z_01_N03326588_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS -BONDS.XML>
No wonder that few of the US ruling class are worried about Bush, Iraq, US economy, etc. US workers aren't making any demands on them.
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org> * Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/mahmoud- ahmadinejads-face.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/chvez- congratulates-ahmadinejad.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/ 2005/06/iranian-working-class-rejects.html>