Wage Protests, QE and China

  While the cost of living has become a problem for some in the US (courtesy of the Fed’s inflationary policies) it’s become a real nightmare for many in the emerging markets where as much as 50% of income is spent by consumers on food.   As a result, we’re beginning to see more and more workers demanding pay raises.   Farmworkers demanding higher wages in South Africa’s biggest table grape-growing region resumed protests today in the absence of new talks between the government, labor unions and the main farmers organization.   About 150 people protested peacefully near a shanty town outside Worcester in the Western Cape province, demanding that the minimum wage be increased to 150 rand a day ($16.92) from 70 rand. In Stofland, on the outskirts of De Doorns, about 50 people marched through the streets of the settlement singing songs and carryin...