Angst, the source of mine.
Via Brad DeLong
The Financial Times has a great piece on "Tackling America's Growing Inequality" that plainly puts into the words the financial reality that is the source of so much of my angst. In my mind it is not inequality that is the problem but flat wage growth for the middle class. The new information (to me) provided in the article is that while productivity has gone up every year I have been working by at least 3% wages over median income fell by 3.8%. During the same time period there have been ever increasing corporate profits, etc.
Similarly, since 1973 (my lifetime) incomes for the top 10% have grown 111% while for the middle 20% incomes have only increased 15%. Americans are also working more, I would be they are probably working a lot more than 15% more hours for what is essentially they same pay.
Resident favorite Billmon also has some things to say about the economy in regard to the president's approval ratings. Of particular note is the average hourly wage in 1982 dollars, side by side with corporate profits.
Yup, trust the market...sure.
A related quote that with particularly appealing imagery (from Billmon's link to the weekly standard" re: the housing bubble).
The Financial Times has a great piece on "Tackling America's Growing Inequality" that plainly puts into the words the financial reality that is the source of so much of my angst. In my mind it is not inequality that is the problem but flat wage growth for the middle class. The new information (to me) provided in the article is that while productivity has gone up every year I have been working by at least 3% wages over median income fell by 3.8%. During the same time period there have been ever increasing corporate profits, etc.
Similarly, since 1973 (my lifetime) incomes for the top 10% have grown 111% while for the middle 20% incomes have only increased 15%. Americans are also working more, I would be they are probably working a lot more than 15% more hours for what is essentially they same pay.
Resident favorite Billmon also has some things to say about the economy in regard to the president's approval ratings. Of particular note is the average hourly wage in 1982 dollars, side by side with corporate profits.
Yup, trust the market...sure.
A related quote that with particularly appealing imagery (from Billmon's link to the weekly standard" re: the housing bubble).
Yeah, that's it..."Countless articles in the financial and popular press have now been devoted to the question of whether we are in a housing "bubble." It is a favorite topic of many liberal economists, columnists, and bloggers, who argue that President Bush's tax cuts and other policies have created a hollow and unsustainable economy." <Emphasis mine>
posted by Oberon at 1:25 PM
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