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I think the point that jbooth is trying to make is that, the wealth of the country has measurably increased since the 1980's but that increase is going mostly t

I think the point that jbooth is trying to make is that, the wealth of the country has measurably increased since the 1980's but that increase is going mostly to the wealthy. The problem is jbooth is trying to prove this using inflation data. Indexing purchasing power to a constant basket of goods is missing the point because our production has become more efficient over that time. But this is exactly the point he's trying to make: While productivity has increased across the board, the wealthy are gaining disproportionately from that increase in productivity. I think this is indisputable. The middle class is shrinking precisely because what it means to be "middle class" should reasonably grow with increases in productivity. However, this isn't happening. And by many measures its decreasing (say health care, college education). The question should be then: is it in societies interest to make sure that the benefits of increased productivity are distributed more proportionally, and should government attempt to accomplish this.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
The middle class is shrinking precisely because what it means to be "middle class" should reasonably grow with increases in productivity. And it has. Every decile has considerably more stuff today than they did in 1980. More cars, bigger houses, more food, more medicine, and more education [1]. Jbooth is making the fallacy of measuring income in non-constant baskets of goods. His claim is that in 1980, median wages bought you 1 basket of goods, and in 2010, median wages still buys only 1 basket of goods. He is deliberately ignoring the fact that the basket in 2010 is bigger. However, this isn't happening. And by many measures its decreasing (say health care, college education). College consumption has increased: http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/edu6.asp http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/edu6.asp The same is true of medicine - we consume more drugs, visit the doctor more, and get more treatments. According to a quick google search, the % of the labor force producing health care has gone up considerably: http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/chart-10-healtcare-employment.png http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/1... You might want to argue that consumption should have increased more, but it's nonsensical to argue that consumption has not increased significantly (as jbooth is). [1] I don't like treating education as a consumption good, since it's primarily purpose is to gain credentials/skills so you can get a job.

yummyfajitas 16y ago

The middle class is shrinking precisely because what it means to be "middle class" should reasonably grow with increases in productivity. And it has. Every decile has considerably more stuff today than they did in 1980. More cars, bigger houses, more food, more medicine, and more education [1]. Jbooth is making the fallacy of measuring income in non-constant baskets of goods. His claim is that in 1980, median wages bought you 1 basket of goods, and in 2010, median wages still buys only 1 basket of goods. He is deliberately ignoring the fact that the basket in 2010 is bigger. However, this isn't happening. And by many measures its decreasing (say health care, college education). College consumption has increased: http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/edu6.asp http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/edu6.asp The same is true of medicine - we consume more drugs, visit the doctor more, and get more treatments. According to a quick google search, the % of the labor force producing health care has gone up considerably: http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/chart-10-healtcare-employment.png http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/1... You might want to argue that consumption should have increased more, but it's nonsensical to argue that consumption has not increased significantly (as jbooth is). [1] I don't like treating education as a consumption good, since it's primarily purpose is to gain credentials/skills so you can get a job.