The period from the end of World War II until the mid-1970s was the Golden Age of the Average Worker: The value produced by an hours labor kept going up, and so did the pay for that same labor. (That connection is also why most who live on inherited wealth look on the same period with horror.) Whether it was intended to or not, this connection was shattered by the economic changes of the late 1980s and Reaganomics.* If you want to understand the anger directed at the wealthiest these days, its explained by this chart. After adjusting for inflation, the average worker produces twice as much wealth as in 1980, but is paid almost exactly the same. (During the height of the and real estate bubbles, the average worker made as much as 20% more than in 1980.) The question for the future, is whether this will become the new normal, or whether the trend will be reversed at some point. * Economists argue about whether automation, offshoring, or changes to the rules the US markets ran on was mostly responsible, and there are convincing and factually accurate arguments for all three. One doesnt need to take a position on which was the biggest factor, to agree that they were a triple whammy on American workers.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 13:50:58 +0000
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