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> Americans are in the midst of record high real wages. The article shows a different view: total wages dropped as a percentage of GDP from 50% post-WWII to 42
by tremon 8y ago
> Americans are in the midst of record high real wages.
The article shows a different view: total wages dropped as a percentage of GDP from 50% post-WWII to 42% in 2011. This is the basis for the Ponzi-economy argument:
consumption is largely financed by accumulating debt liabilities to supplement inadequate wages and salaries, where government runs massive fiscal deficits, not only to support the income shortfalls of its citizens, but increasingly to serve and enhance corporate profits themselves
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago> The article shows a different view: total wages dropped as a percentage of GDP from 50% post-WWII to 42% in 2011 The article and I are in agreement on this narrow point. Wages as a fraction of GDP are down. Wages, themselves, are up. Broadly, I disagree with the assertion that our economy's growth is unusually debt-fueled. Total debt as a fraction of GDP is worryingly high [1]. Strip out financial sector indebtedness, however, and we're where we were in the 80s. Household debt explains a relatively narrow slice of recent GDP growth. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_position_of_the_United_States#/media/File:Components-of-total-US-debt.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_position_of_the_Unit...