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U.S. standard of living has fallen over 57% over a span of 40 years

• IceCreamYou 15y ago
  I don't get how that graph is compatible with this one: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=gdp+per+capita+united+states+1970-2000 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=gdp+per+capita+united+s...
  • deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  • taw 15y ago
    First, you want this one (inflation-adjusted): http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=real+gdp+per+capita+united+states+1970-2000 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=real+gdp+per+capita+uni... Second, women's participation in work force increased (data the article quotes is per worker-hour not per person). Third, hours worked per person increased (and quoted figure is per worker-hour not per person) Fourth, share of wage in compensation decreased drastically. Larger part of GDP goes into non-wage compensation (health insurance, retirement funds etc.), smaller part goes into wage. (and article quotes wages/hour not total compensation/hour). So far so good. Except that's only stagnation, not any drastic collapse. Fifth, the article lies outright and uses conspiracy theory inflation figures from shadowstats. You need to use the blue line on their graph (which shows stagnation is hourly earnings - that much is true), not conspiracy theory green line.
• shakinandbakin 15y ago
  Standard of living is connected to inflation. We should not be asking ourselves "Why is everything more expensive now???" and instead asking "Why is my dollar buying me less..."
  • taw 15y ago
    You are entirely wrong. If everyone earns 10x more and everything costs 10x more (compared with let's say previous year), everybody's standards of living is exactly unchanged, while inflation is 900%.