5 ms·

Think about inflation increasing at 3% annually on average, with no accompanying deflation, and with no accompanying increases in wages for most of the populati

Think about inflation increasing at 3% annually on average, with no accompanying deflation, and with no accompanying increases in wages for most of the population. A dollar is presently worth half as much as in 1990. A 100,000 a year job in 1990 is equivalent to a 50,000 a year nowdays. Every year the noose gets slightly tighter, the slack is slightly reduced, the competition is slightly increased, society become slightly more cutthroat, people are forced to do slightly crazier and crazier things to make ends meet and sacrifice their morals just a little bit more, work just a few more hours to make the same money. Then new generations are born into a world that's much more competitive than their parents world 20 years previous, and start out thinking this level of competitiveness and craziness is normal. And the water in the frog pot inter-generationally continues to get hotter. We're literally on a slow unstoppable pathway to a third world country and no one even realizes it. Or possibly creating the conditions for war.

sudosysgen 5y ago
I came to the same conclusion after going back to a middle class country with my parents in early high school. On the salary of two public school teachers which is middle class though above average, life was not so different from in Canada on the salary from the same profession. Better in some ways, worse in others, overall only slightly worse. That would have been insane a few decades earlier, and it's not just because of improving third world countries, but also because as you said the noose tightened - everything became more expensive, especially rent, working hours increased, two salaries became necessary, etc..
lottin 5y ago
> with no accompanying increases in wages for most of the population Take a look at the median US household income over the last 40 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Median_US_household_income_through_2018.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United...
- nickthemagicman 5y ago
  Median wage and median household income are two separate things. Median household income can mean two parents are working... Take a look at inflation adjusted wage growth for a singular person over time. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/%3famp=1 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2...
  - lottin 5y ago
    Fair enough, household income is not the same as wages, but the data that you link to shows wages have kept the pace with inflation, contrary to what you were saying.
    - nickthemagicman 5y ago
      Good point. I stand corrected. I grabbed the first legit looking domain on Google (pew) for a reference thinking it matched something else I read and proved myself wrong. Good catch. So apparently the fed allowing inflation rates to increase is also paralleled by wage increases somehow? I'm guessing due to the stimulation of the economy by the inflation?
      - lottin 5y ago
        Inflation is an increase in the price level and wages are a price too. This means, in principle, we should expect wages to increase at the same rate as other prices, all else equal. In practice wages will not always move with inflation perfectly, because again wages are prices and prices are influenced by demand and supply, in addition to changes in the price level.

sudosysgen 5y ago

I came to the same conclusion after going back to a middle class country with my parents in early high school. On the salary of two public school teachers which is middle class though above average, life was not so different from in Canada on the salary from the same profession. Better in some ways, worse in others, overall only slightly worse. That would have been insane a few decades earlier, and it's not just because of improving third world countries, but also because as you said the noose tightened - everything became more expensive, especially rent, working hours increased, two salaries became necessary, etc..

lottin 5y ago

> with no accompanying increases in wages for most of the population Take a look at the median US household income over the last 40 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Median_US_household_income_through_2018.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United...

nickthemagicman 5y ago
Median wage and median household income are two separate things. Median household income can mean two parents are working... Take a look at inflation adjusted wage growth for a singular person over time. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/%3famp=1 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2...
- lottin 5y ago
  Fair enough, household income is not the same as wages, but the data that you link to shows wages have kept the pace with inflation, contrary to what you were saying.
  - nickthemagicman 5y ago
    Good point. I stand corrected. I grabbed the first legit looking domain on Google (pew) for a reference thinking it matched something else I read and proved myself wrong. Good catch. So apparently the fed allowing inflation rates to increase is also paralleled by wage increases somehow? I'm guessing due to the stimulation of the economy by the inflation?
    - lottin 5y ago
      Inflation is an increase in the price level and wages are a price too. This means, in principle, we should expect wages to increase at the same rate as other prices, all else equal. In practice wages will not always move with inflation perfectly, because again wages are prices and prices are influenced by demand and supply, in addition to changes in the price level.