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So that works out to $800 for a 40-hour week. Back in 1963, blue-collar production-line workers had reached $100 per week. The buying power of the US Dollar ha

So that works out to $800 for a 40-hour week. Back in 1963, blue-collar production-line workers had reached $100 per week. The buying power of the US Dollar has declined to about a fiftieth since then, meaning that blue-collar production-line workers should be receiving $5000 for a 40-hour week to maintain their buying power in the 2020s that they used to have in the 1960s. That increase to $800 a week? Merely a sixth of what it should be to maintain the buying power of a baseline worker. That is why the US economy is dragging. Nobody has any money to spend to raise the economy to the heights it had in the 1960s.

FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
> blue-collar production-line workers should be receiving $5000 for a 40-hour week to maintain their buying power in the 2020s that they used to have in the 1960s. $5,000/week * 52 weeks/year = $260k/year. If this is true, then a union factory job then is on par with a rather good SWE job now.
- maxerickson 3y ago
  BLS puts it at 10, not 50. https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=100&year1=196301&year2=202402 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=100&year1=1963...
  - simonblack 3y ago
    Do your own buying-power comparisons rather than accept 'official figures'. Gold in 1963 was $35 an ounce, what is it today? You could buy a new Rolex Oyster in 1970-odd for $210. What does one cost today? Also compare car and/or house prices of 1960-odd and today. That 'ten' is nowhere near where it should be. In the 60s, a blue-collar production worker could afford a good house, a good car, a good holiday every year and could afford to have his non-working wife looking after the kids at home. Today many people have both husband and wife working and still can't make ends meet.
    - maxerickson 3y ago
      Ah yes, the cost of a high end item that technological change turned into a pure status signalling luxury item. Housing and vehicles have certainly increased in cost. Housing is a policy failure, and vehicles are a mixed bag. There are policy choices in vehicles (many required emissions and safety systems), and the reliability, performance and durability has changed dramatically. So the price is higher, but value hasn't stayed the same at all.
      - throwaway5959 3y ago
        I wonder if people compare like to like housing when they compare price. Homes have more than doubled in size and have way more features than they did in the 50s.
cbsks 3y ago
> The buying power of the US Dollar has declined to about a fiftieth since then This shows the buying power decline since 1963 as about 1/10, not 1/50. https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=1&year1=196301&year2=202402 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=1&year1=196301...

FooBarBizBazz 3y ago

> blue-collar production-line workers should be receiving $5000 for a 40-hour week to maintain their buying power in the 2020s that they used to have in the 1960s. $5,000/week * 52 weeks/year = $260k/year. If this is true, then a union factory job then is on par with a rather good SWE job now.

maxerickson 3y ago
BLS puts it at 10, not 50. https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=100&year1=196301&year2=202402 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=100&year1=1963...
- simonblack 3y ago
  Do your own buying-power comparisons rather than accept 'official figures'. Gold in 1963 was $35 an ounce, what is it today? You could buy a new Rolex Oyster in 1970-odd for $210. What does one cost today? Also compare car and/or house prices of 1960-odd and today. That 'ten' is nowhere near where it should be. In the 60s, a blue-collar production worker could afford a good house, a good car, a good holiday every year and could afford to have his non-working wife looking after the kids at home. Today many people have both husband and wife working and still can't make ends meet.
  - maxerickson 3y ago
    Ah yes, the cost of a high end item that technological change turned into a pure status signalling luxury item. Housing and vehicles have certainly increased in cost. Housing is a policy failure, and vehicles are a mixed bag. There are policy choices in vehicles (many required emissions and safety systems), and the reliability, performance and durability has changed dramatically. So the price is higher, but value hasn't stayed the same at all.
    - throwaway5959 3y ago
      I wonder if people compare like to like housing when they compare price. Homes have more than doubled in size and have way more features than they did in the 50s.

cbsks 3y ago

> The buying power of the US Dollar has declined to about a fiftieth since then This shows the buying power decline since 1963 as about 1/10, not 1/50. https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=1&year1=196301&year2=202402 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=1&year1=196301...