4 ms·

That is not true. They vastly overstate the decline in wages, due to the rise of more single person households. See: http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds

by klbarry 15y ago

That is not true. They vastly overstate the decline in wages, due to the rise of more single person households. See: http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=a7jenngfc4um7_&ctype=l&strail=false&nselm=h&met_y=personal_income_per_capita&hl=en&dl=en#ctype=l&strail=false&nselm=h&met_y=personal_income_per_capita&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&ifdim=region&tdim=true&hl=en&dl=en http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=a7jenngfc4um7_&#... Individual wages have risen steadily since 1910, with no gaps. The household income chart is a misleading chart.

iaskwhy 15y ago
Does this take into account inflation? It could be that they are actually decreasing with inflation. I don't think it's like that but I'm just curious.
- klbarry 15y ago
  Either way, it shows the growth as steady, since inflation has not been particularly high in the last 20 years.
cperciva 15y ago
Note: That graph is personal income per capita, not personal income per worker or per hour worked.
- klbarry 15y ago
  Also see: http://visualizingeconomics.com/2007/11/04/has-middle-americas-wages-stagnated/ http://visualizingeconomics.com/2007/11/04/has-middle-americ.... Incredibly stable since 1960.
william42 15y ago
http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=a7jenngfc4um7_&ctype=l&strail=false&nselm=h&met_y=personal_income_per_capita&scale_y=log&ind_y=false&rdim=region&ifdim=region&tdim=true&tstart=-1272139200000&tend=1284004800000&hl=en&dl=en&uniSize=0.035&iconSize=0.5&icfg http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=a7jenngfc4um7_&#... This is a log-scale graph, which is what you want in order to compare rates of increase. You can see sort of an inflection point around the early 80s, but I'm not sure if it's significant.
woobar 15y ago
This chart has nothing to do with individual wages. This is a sum of all incomes from all possible sources devided by population.
dogwelder 15y ago
That chart shows per capita income without adjusting for inflation. It's not very useful for drawing conclusions about real income. And per capita is a simple average, while looking at medians or quintiles gives you a clearer picture. Per capita, a roomful of middle class workers all become billionaires if Bill Gates walks in.

by klbarry 15y ago

iaskwhy 15y ago

Does this take into account inflation? It could be that they are actually decreasing with inflation. I don't think it's like that but I'm just curious.

klbarry 15y ago
Either way, it shows the growth as steady, since inflation has not been particularly high in the last 20 years.

cperciva 15y ago

Note: That graph is personal income per capita, not personal income per worker or per hour worked.

klbarry 15y ago
Also see: http://visualizingeconomics.com/2007/11/04/has-middle-americas-wages-stagnated/ http://visualizingeconomics.com/2007/11/04/has-middle-americ.... Incredibly stable since 1960.

william42 15y ago

http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=a7jenngfc4um7_&ctype=l&strail=false&nselm=h&met_y=personal_income_per_capita&scale_y=log&ind_y=false&rdim=region&ifdim=region&tdim=true&tstart=-1272139200000&tend=1284004800000&hl=en&dl=en&uniSize=0.035&iconSize=0.5&icfg http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=a7jenngfc4um7_&#... This is a log-scale graph, which is what you want in order to compare rates of increase. You can see sort of an inflection point around the early 80s, but I'm not sure if it's significant.

woobar 15y ago

This chart has nothing to do with individual wages. This is a sum of all incomes from all possible sources devided by population.

dogwelder 15y ago

That chart shows per capita income without adjusting for inflation. It's not very useful for drawing conclusions about real income. And per capita is a simple average, while looking at medians or quintiles gives you a clearer picture. Per capita, a roomful of middle class workers all become billionaires if Bill Gates walks in.