4 ms·

The crying is because if in the 50's we could afford these things with just a basic job then why 70 years later do many struggle to afford the same things? Has

The crying is because if in the 50's we could afford these things with just a basic job then why 70 years later do many struggle to afford the same things? Has technology and society not evolved to be more effective and efficient since then?

username90 6y ago
Most of the things you pay for costs more the more other people earn. A doctors visit will cost more as he earns more, as do all other jobs demanding access to others people time. Land (and therefore housing) costs more as other people get more money to bid on it, as do all other things with strict limits to supply. Goods that doesn't follow this tend to either be vastly more affordable or vastly superior today than 70 years ago. The exception would be goods requiring fossil fuel which has gotten more expensive for obvious reasons.
dantheman 6y ago
Housing, medical, and education have gone insane with respect to price. Additionally lot's of work has gone to poor people around the world - modern transportation and communication has allowed the living standard of the world to greatly increase. When looking at the global level, the reduction in poverty has been amazing. So this problem has 2 sides - heavily regulated domains have seen a huge price increase, and low skill work has been stagnant as it's been spread around the world.
pjlegato 6y ago
Global society has indeed become far more efficient today than in the 1950s. That's precisely why a working class job no longer affords a middle class lifestyle. All industrialized countries except the United States were physically destroyed by World War II. The US was the only place where any significant amount of industrial infrastructure still existed, so the US had a massive postwar economic boom as the nearly sole supplier of industrial goods as the rest of the world lay in ruins. American workers thus enjoyed a brief period where a basic working class industrial job could pay for a middle class lifestyle, entirely due to that inefficiency. Nowadays, things are far more equal and efficient globally. American workers no longer enjoy exclusive access to industrial infrastructure, so having a basic job once again yields only a basic lifestyle.
- bhupy 6y ago
  A very well articulated version of the neoliberal quip “why do you hate the global poor?” :)
foofoo4u 6y ago
You may find this perspective by Russ Roberts, host of EconTalk, to be interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dL5G4QYEhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dL5G4QYEhc . Explores this very question in his series.

username90 6y ago

Most of the things you pay for costs more the more other people earn. A doctors visit will cost more as he earns more, as do all other jobs demanding access to others people time. Land (and therefore housing) costs more as other people get more money to bid on it, as do all other things with strict limits to supply. Goods that doesn't follow this tend to either be vastly more affordable or vastly superior today than 70 years ago. The exception would be goods requiring fossil fuel which has gotten more expensive for obvious reasons.

dantheman 6y ago

Housing, medical, and education have gone insane with respect to price. Additionally lot's of work has gone to poor people around the world - modern transportation and communication has allowed the living standard of the world to greatly increase. When looking at the global level, the reduction in poverty has been amazing. So this problem has 2 sides - heavily regulated domains have seen a huge price increase, and low skill work has been stagnant as it's been spread around the world.

pjlegato 6y ago

Global society has indeed become far more efficient today than in the 1950s. That's precisely why a working class job no longer affords a middle class lifestyle. All industrialized countries except the United States were physically destroyed by World War II. The US was the only place where any significant amount of industrial infrastructure still existed, so the US had a massive postwar economic boom as the nearly sole supplier of industrial goods as the rest of the world lay in ruins. American workers thus enjoyed a brief period where a basic working class industrial job could pay for a middle class lifestyle, entirely due to that inefficiency. Nowadays, things are far more equal and efficient globally. American workers no longer enjoy exclusive access to industrial infrastructure, so having a basic job once again yields only a basic lifestyle.

bhupy 6y ago
A very well articulated version of the neoliberal quip “why do you hate the global poor?” :)

foofoo4u 6y ago

You may find this perspective by Russ Roberts, host of EconTalk, to be interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dL5G4QYEhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dL5G4QYEhc . Explores this very question in his series.