Perhaps part of the problem is that unemployment since the start of COVID became open ended with no limit on the length of benefit along with a weekly cash bonus. I knew of a lot of people who would have to get off their couch and get a job in the past who were willing to make less money lying on it for a long time simply because they knew there was no sunset on their UE benefits.It has always been known that if the pay is good, the job will get filled and I think that is playing a part of the worker shortage. And if the rebuttal is "well they can make the same by drawing unemployment", then the working wage needs to be high enough to get them off the couch. And this is not union driven, liberal dogma or any other political group think....it's just common sense.
I have also seen news stories about people who refused to take any of the plethora of jobs out there because they won't take any job they can't do entirely from home. Now they are crying because their unemployment money is finally running out and they think they should be subsidized indefinitely. This is only a part of the problem but federal spending at this level is unsustainable.
I hope someone - anyone - in Washington comes to their senses before it comes to a head and we truly have to pay the piper. When it does come to a head it will be UGLY. At this time neither major party seems the least bit interested in making tough choices and tackling the deficit at all. And that is just the deficit - not the debt. I am just talking about how much we are going further in debt, not about how we get out of debt.