On Thursday, the business news network tweeted:
America’s labor shortage is approaching epidemic proportions, and it could be employers who end up paying. https://t.co/b1O21856sl
— CNBC (@CNBC) July 5, 2018
In defense of CNBC, rising wages are a problem from the point of view of employers. But the hyperbolic self-pitying tone of the tweet instantly highlighted the problem of viewing economic news only from the perspective of bosses, as opposed to workers.
The tweet inspired an instant dogpiling as Twitter users competed to deride it:
This is the apocalyptic rhetoric that business elites use to refer to the horrific prospect of *wages rising*. https://t.co/phbjpC4zm6
— David Roberts (@drvox) July 5, 2018
BREAKING: Demand exceeds supply, buyers required to pay more! https://t.co/q5B4uo0BZP
— Kurt Andersen (@KBAndersen) July 5, 2018
[through heaving, near incoherent sobs] what about my dividends!!?!?! https://t.co/kDmk5zyGEP
— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) July 5, 2018
You would think this is a bad thing, or something. https://t.co/06PpdKx0NU
— Helaine Olen (@helaineolen) July 5, 2018
"Economists expect that employers are going to have to start doing more to entice workers, likely through pay raises, training and other incentives."
— Angela Hanks (@AngelaHanks) July 5, 2018
Um, this is literally just how this is supposed to work. https://t.co/NdaF5u8SOR
Paying what? Higher wages? https://t.co/iU76weIQZ1
— Michael Brendan Dougherty (@michaelbd) July 5, 2018
The mockery of CNBC crossed the ideological line, encompassing conservatives and liberals alike. In a fraying America, perhaps the one thing that can bring unity is the obtuseness of the business press.