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That's not how it works in America. The real purchasing power, adjusted for inflation and costs of living, of the middle and lower has been falling for decades.
by sacnoradhq 4y ago
That's not how it works in America. The real purchasing power, adjusted for inflation and costs of living, of the middle and lower has been falling for decades. There is a massive increase in income at the top. Also, look at CEO to worker pay ratios. Americans, if not moderately-to-very rich, don't know how bad they have it compared to the rest of the modern world.
https://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation https://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation
- bruce511 4y agoI agree. American employers have failed to raise wages and American workers have accepted this as OK. That's not the fault of inflation its the fault of a passive workforce. Contrast to France where workers are organised, and motivated, and the slightest sign of pain leads to rioting. While it's easy to "blame inflation" for the decline in real wages, that's not the root cause of the problem. Of course every employer keeps talking about inflation as the cause - it deflects from the real cause.
- sacnoradhq 4y agoAbsolutely. There are tens/hundreds of millions of aspiring American billionaires who believe hard work for peanuts or a lottery ticket are their salvation. If American workers had any sense and self-respect, they would capture more of the value they create by forming worker-owned co-ops rather than give their blood, sweat, and tears over to investors (those who own capital and wealth) of publicly-traded companies. Lone wolf, self-absorbed, rugged-individualism doesn't scale well beyond about 1 person. The prevailing lack of both community and solidarity in the US are sources of major social and economic failure. Many Americans believe less regulation, fewer laws, and greed magically result in wealth flowing from the heavens.