$15/hour minimum wage provides more disposable income and it WILL be spent, thereby causing prices at the basic survival-level to RISE (aka CPI). The Fed has done an excellent job of hiding the trillions from the CPI. They've hidden it billionaires and corporate balance sheets and foreign transactions, however, the gig is now up. That money was bound to trickle out at some point. $15/hour has gained sufficient traction to spread like wildfire, so there is nothing that can stop the inflation. It will become a spiral. In all of history, every currency has failed. Every single one. The ONLY way out of this is to "de-clip the coinage". What I mean by that, is to maintain the value while providing capital improvements to grow the real economy to handle the excess money supply. Then you can raise taxes and pay back the debt. Simultaneously, the Fed will also have to change their accounting rules to back the currency with something tangible (not purchasable assets). I have the full plan. Will they do it? The hyper-inflation has begun!
Food, Taxes, Insurance Costs, Tuition, Electric, Medical Costs, etc., up at least 6% year-over-year here in NY. We have no inflation........what a scam! The CPI is a manipulated measure used by manipulating governing bodies for their own agendas.
I think recent years have been better in Canada then the US in this regard. We don't have the heavy tuition and medical costs, and our tax bills which used to be much higher then the US have tapered back considerably the last 15 years. Low interest rates and a booming housing market was a windfall for many residents. Some of the other expenses have gone up a lot, like utilities and insurance, but that is more then balanced out by much cheaper mortgages, electronics, and clothes. I see job market as being the most important thing moving forward, the rest will take care of itself provided jobs are created to replace those that disappeared.