MY DEAREST SUN SPOTS: Life is so hard for most people. I see old people struggling to keep their homes, which they worked so hard to get. Everything goes up and up with no end near.

We used to earn 75 cents an hour and could live well. Now people make $16 an hour and don’t even make ends meet.

The government just raises wages and everything; that’s not the right way to go. Why can’t they freeze everything, bring the wages and prices lower, so people can make ends meet?

Gas is very high, which makes it hard on working people, because they have to travel to work. It takes a big chunk of their pay just to pay for gas. The retired people stay home because they cannot afford the gas.

Why does our country not do better for us with oil and gas, especially in the winter? It’s sad. — Mary Ann, Lewiston

ANSWER: First, Sun Spots must point out that many working people don’t make $16 an hour (Mary Ann could have meant $10; handwriting was unclear), but instead earn minimum wage or slightly more.

Also, the government does not set wages (other than for state and federal employees and the minimum wage) — individual companies do. The federal minimum wage was raised to $7.25 in 2009. The state minimum wage, slightly higher in Maine, is at $7.50.

Since the value of money changes (inflation), the actual value of the minimum wage is less than it was when Sun Spots made the $2.65 an hour minimum wage in the 1970s. The poverty index is also out of whack, as it was developed when the economy was very different.

Freezing wages and prices is not something the government could or would want to do. Prices’ dropping leads to “deflation.” In deflation prices drop, so people put off purchases, knowing the price will be lower the next day. (Basic food, which you must have, is an exception.)

If people reduce their shopping, the economy grinds to a halt because consumer purchases are about 70 percent of the U.S. economy. A trend toward that is already being seen in much of the world. It is what happened in the Great Depression.

As for the price of gas and oil, there is little the government can do about it. Oil is a “fungible” resource, or able to be exchanged for another identical unit elsewhere. That means that if people in the United States aren’t willing to pay the current price, someone elsewhere in the world will. So if Exxon has oil to sell and the U.S. only let its citizens pay $2 a gallon, Exxon will simply sell the oil to other countries.

Some countries do subsidize the price of gasoline, but that leads to other problems, as the difference must be made up elsewhere in the government’s budget.

Many smart people are trying to figure out a way to make the economy “grow” faster but have not succeeded — so far.

Sun Spots points to the theory that the planet is basically a giant island and cannot support endless growth, so the economy cannot continue to grow endlessly either (see “The Limits to Growth.”1972, by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers and William W. Behrens III).

DEAR SUN SPOTS: In the Sept. 3 newspaper, two things:

A Letter to the Editor said a number could not be found for the person whose auto was hit in a parking lot. He may want to check to see if there were active cameras in that parking lot.

As for bookbinding, check with your city or town office; they usually have access to a bindery. Call a local college as they also have need of this service, at least Colby College does. — No Name via email

ANSWER: Sun Spots suspects that many municipalities contract out their bookbinding, as demand for that service is declining. Some libraries and colleges repair their own books, but Sun Spots doesn’t think they serve the public. The next reader also has a suggestion on this topic.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Several days ago someone asked about bookbinders. In addition to Sun Spots’ answer (I believe it was in Portland), Jon Robbins in Whitefield does excellent bookbinding. He can be reached at 549-5748. — Jane Costlow, [email protected]

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