Cash for Consumers Is Wealth Redistribution

Consider that, because groceries are too expensive, Build Back Better promised to give working families a $300 check each month. Great! But…such an action would do nothing to challenge the pricing dynamic itself. In fact, if producers maintain their markups by passing costs onto consumers, and if the government subsidizes those consumers’ purchases with tax credits and cash transfers, then corporate giants stand to reap even larger profits since buyers will be able to tolerate even higher prices. Ironically, a cash transfer without complementary price and tax policies could result in an overall upward redistribution of wealth. And in a market society, wealth is power…Because the social and economic order is predicated on maintaining a certain level of consumer confidence, cash transfers are not threatening to the rulers of the age; instead they provide the means to shore up demand in a low-wage economy.

— “Better Get Back to Building,” Jacobin