5 ms·

Are there any measures that show objectively how the middle class is being destroyed? seeing layoff after layoff after layoff over the past few years, yet they

Are there any measures that show objectively how the middle class is being destroyed? seeing layoff after layoff after layoff over the past few years, yet theyre selling the economy as GREAT because theres a ton more low paid jobs and part time jobs.

BoredPositron 2y ago
TRUE LOVE IS POSSIBLE ONLY IN THE NEXT WORLD -- FOR NEW PEOPLE IT IS TOO LATE FOR US WREAK HAVOC ON THE MIDDLE CLASS - Disco Elysium
talldayo 2y ago
In this case, John Deere has skated by with incredibly exploitative business practices for years. Their insular repair scheme has led to an over-hiring of official licensed support engineers that shouldn't persist in a competitive market. This is a broader trend in the US economy that will self-correct as regulators become less recalcitrant.
- _3u10 2y ago
  Finally, those mechanics were getting paid too much. I’m glad someone is shutting down this practice so their wages can be lowered.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    The mechanics are not independents, in this case. They are specifically trained, retained and dispatched by John Deere, for paying John Deere customers. These are salaried people that are more or less employed as part of a scheme to prevent price-competitive repair from existing, not mom-and-pop wholesalers fixing a radiator.
_3u10 2y ago
Yes, go into numbeo and look at the purchasing power indexes. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_current.jsp?displayColumn=5 https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_current.jsp?d... For example I live in Asuncion, Paraguay where the median wage is $420/month. Vancouver, Canada has a purchasing power index that is 220% as high. Eg. The average person in Vancouver makes as much as a Paraguayan making $840/month living in Asuncion. You could also compare NY to Cali, Colombia where NY has a score of 100 (by definition) and Cali has a score of 48. So the average Colombian is 1/2 as wealthy as the average New Yorker, or 1/3 the average Austinite with a score of 170. The American middle class is doing amazingly well by moving to where they are exporting everyone’s jobs to. They double their income by not paying taxes anymore, and then compound that with a 1/3rd cost of living.
SideQuark 2y ago
> Are there any measures that show objectively how the middle class is being destroyed? If by destroyed, you mean shrinking from 61% in 1971 to 51% of households now, then yes, there is data for that. But that 10% decline was ~8% moving into above middle class and ~2% moving below middle class. So yes, the middle class shrunk, because more people got richer. I'd also hardly call it destroyed - more like the % of people in various age groups has shifted, and people stay in education longer (meaning a higher % below middle), but those people over a lifetime will likely also become above middle class. When you do the simple math that in 1970 about 25% of 18-24 were in college, and that % is now around 50%, and you factor that in, you can compute (or check Census/BLS reports for the same) to see outside people staying in school longer, the middle class is shrinking due to people getting richer. I guess things aren't at negative as you imply. https://www.newsweek.com/america-middle-class-shrinking-1913772 https://www.newsweek.com/america-middle-class-shrinking-1913...
- samarthr1 2y ago
  I would expect that a more charitable reading of GP would say that people from the lower class have not come in the middle class as much as they had earlier? At any rate, imo for stability to exist, every generation must _feel_ better off than the previous on average.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - _3u10 2y ago
    The world was stable for a loooong time with no noticeable increase in standard of living.
  - the_real_cher 2y ago
    Yeah this is exactly what Im asking to be honest. Thanks for clarifying this. How difficult is it to escape the lower class.
    - SideQuark 2y ago

BoredPositron 2y ago

TRUE LOVE IS POSSIBLE ONLY IN THE NEXT WORLD -- FOR NEW PEOPLE IT IS TOO LATE FOR US WREAK HAVOC ON THE MIDDLE CLASS - Disco Elysium

talldayo 2y ago

In this case, John Deere has skated by with incredibly exploitative business practices for years. Their insular repair scheme has led to an over-hiring of official licensed support engineers that shouldn't persist in a competitive market. This is a broader trend in the US economy that will self-correct as regulators become less recalcitrant.

_3u10 2y ago
Finally, those mechanics were getting paid too much. I’m glad someone is shutting down this practice so their wages can be lowered.
- talldayo 2y ago
  The mechanics are not independents, in this case. They are specifically trained, retained and dispatched by John Deere, for paying John Deere customers. These are salaried people that are more or less employed as part of a scheme to prevent price-competitive repair from existing, not mom-and-pop wholesalers fixing a radiator.

_3u10 2y ago

Yes, go into numbeo and look at the purchasing power indexes. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_current.jsp?displayColumn=5 https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_current.jsp?d... For example I live in Asuncion, Paraguay where the median wage is $420/month. Vancouver, Canada has a purchasing power index that is 220% as high. Eg. The average person in Vancouver makes as much as a Paraguayan making $840/month living in Asuncion. You could also compare NY to Cali, Colombia where NY has a score of 100 (by definition) and Cali has a score of 48. So the average Colombian is 1/2 as wealthy as the average New Yorker, or 1/3 the average Austinite with a score of 170. The American middle class is doing amazingly well by moving to where they are exporting everyone’s jobs to. They double their income by not paying taxes anymore, and then compound that with a 1/3rd cost of living.

SideQuark 2y ago

> Are there any measures that show objectively how the middle class is being destroyed? If by destroyed, you mean shrinking from 61% in 1971 to 51% of households now, then yes, there is data for that. But that 10% decline was ~8% moving into above middle class and ~2% moving below middle class. So yes, the middle class shrunk, because more people got richer. I'd also hardly call it destroyed - more like the % of people in various age groups has shifted, and people stay in education longer (meaning a higher % below middle), but those people over a lifetime will likely also become above middle class. When you do the simple math that in 1970 about 25% of 18-24 were in college, and that % is now around 50%, and you factor that in, you can compute (or check Census/BLS reports for the same) to see outside people staying in school longer, the middle class is shrinking due to people getting richer. I guess things aren't at negative as you imply. https://www.newsweek.com/america-middle-class-shrinking-1913772 https://www.newsweek.com/america-middle-class-shrinking-1913...

samarthr1 2y ago
I would expect that a more charitable reading of GP would say that people from the lower class have not come in the middle class as much as they had earlier? At any rate, imo for stability to exist, every generation must _feel_ better off than the previous on average.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- _3u10 2y ago
  The world was stable for a loooong time with no noticeable increase in standard of living.
- the_real_cher 2y ago
  Yeah this is exactly what Im asking to be honest. Thanks for clarifying this. How difficult is it to escape the lower class.
  - SideQuark 2y ago