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There are multiple problems with this chart: 1. It looks like it tracks the average compensation, which is easily skewed by a few high income earners whose wag
by smartician 14y ago
There are multiple problems with this chart:
1. It looks like it tracks the average compensation, which is easily skewed by a few high income earners whose wages grew disproportionately (investment bankers, lawyers).
2. It doesn't say anything about the hours worked. Even when hourly compensation is up, total income can be down if the number of hours worked goes down.
A better analysis: http://www.epi.org/publication/ib330-productivity-vs-compensation/ http://www.epi.org/publication/ib330-productivity-vs-compens...
- woodchuck64 14y agoTaking the median has problems just as serious. A better analysis is: http://www.american.com/archive/2011/september/middle-class http://www.american.com/archive/2011/september/middle-class, demonstrating that the real story may not be so bad for the middle class. As for hours worked, this graph suggests that the value rises and falls with recessions: http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet?request_action=wh&graph_name=CE_cesbref2 http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet?request_action=w...