Biden betting on wage growth, while GOP warns of inflation

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration recently gave a bit of simple advice to businesses that are unable to find workers: Offer them more money. This recommendation, included in a White House memo about the state of the economy, gets at a fundamental tension in an economy that is returning to full health after the coronavirus pandemic. Businesses are coping with spiking prices for goods such as steel, plywood, plastics and asphalt. Yet workers, after enduring a year of job losses, business closures and social distancing, are no longer interested in accepting low wages.