1.   And because wages are two thirds of business costs, wage hikes often beget price hikes.

2.   As the economy has expanded historically, companies have hired new workers and given wage hikes to existing employees, thereby forcing them to raise prices on their products.

3.   Business has been clamoring for a stimulus package while labor leaders have pushed for a new round of wage hikes.

4.   But wage hikes are two-edged.

5.   Dole, during his news conference, suggested he might be willing to have votes on three separate bills for the tax repeal, wage hike and Team Act.

6.   For one, wage hikes were inflated by an increase in compensation for workers on Wall Street, where broker commissions swelled during a sizzling rally in stocks.

7.   Gilmore also warned that the wage hike would also increase pressure on pay rates for non-minimum wage workers in the state.

8.   Giuliani had used the strike to emphasize that he would be granting no wage hikes for several years, unless paid for through increased worker productivity.

9.   Government wage hikes mask the larger problem of public sector restructuring, said analysts.

10.   However, since Republicans are more likely to reduce some tax breaks for poor families rather than pass new ones, he will support a wage hike.