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It seems we might be entering the nightmare scenario where wage growth becomes re-coupled to productivity gains instead of being siphoned away from laborers.
by mullingitover 5y ago
It seems we might be entering the nightmare scenario where wage growth becomes re-coupled to productivity gains instead of being siphoned away from laborers.
- ProjectArcturis 5y agoDoes this need an /s? Don't see how this is a nightmare unless you're a billionaire.
- jgsuw 5y agoIts clearly sarcastic, does that mean it needs an /s?
- nyx 5y agoOriginal comment was definitely a Poe's Law contender. Hacker News, despite its "gratify curiosity" motto, has never strayed far from its Silicon Valley VC roots, and so these comment threads are brimming with corporation lovers: tech money, people adjacent to tech money, and people who simp for tech money in the hopes that they might be given a slice someday.
- tonyedgecombe 5y agoOr a retiree with an investment based pension.
- diordiderot 5y agoHalf of stocks are owned by pensions. The overwhelming majority of that half is owned by a small segment of privileged individuals
- tonyedgecombe 5y agoTIL people with a pension are privileged individuals.
- diordiderot 5y ago40% of Americans 65+ only source of income is social security. The trend is increasing.
- tonyedgecombe 5y agoSo 60% have some kind of investment income.
- imtringued 5y agoYes retirees get hurt but you have to understand that these retirees are benefiting from exploitation. Also, they are trying to pretend that there won't be a shortage of workers in 20-30 years as the population gets older.
- paulpauper 5y agoThis is an argument of the 'wtf happend in 1971' thesis. I think however, there is another way of looking at it: by treating company profits and employee compensation as obeying a sort of conservation law. So if companies are hoarding profits that would go to workers, then this would be reflected in rising shareholder equity, so if employees invest their wages in stocks, the productivity-compensation gap is lessened. Indeed, the gap between productivity and wages began widening a lot in the early 80s, when the bull market began.
- knappe 5y agoWhat a bad idea that would be though. Talk about putting all of your eggs in one basket. I'd have a hard time believing anyone would suggest that you do this, as the risk for things going bad if the company fails is double. You lose income as the company stagnates (or worse get laid off) AND you lose money as the company's stock drops.
- mullingitover 5y agoThis all assumes that the working class can even afford to dabble in equity markets when it's being soaked by ever rising rent/healthcare/childcare costs.
- piva00 5y agoGiven the latest news showing that 89% of stocks in the US are owned by the wealthiest 10% of Americans you aren't wrong, at all.
- lotsofpulp 5y agoThat report did not account for pension fund and other retirement account investments.
- diordiderot 5y ago2/3 Americans have less that 100k in retirement or pension by age 50.
- spaetzleesser 5y agoThat’s how it looks to me. How dare the low ranks want to benefit from economic growth. How can a country exist without billionaires getting richer?