4 ms·

The people who make that claim usually base it on average hourly earnings rates, inflation-adjusted, for some class of (male) workers. On the other hand, if yo

by glenra 13y ago

The people who make that claim usually base it on average hourly earnings rates, inflation-adjusted, for some class of (male) workers. On the other hand, if you look at "median household income", that's grown a fair bit since 1967. We have more dual-income families today where instead of one high-earning male and a housewife we have a couple who on average work maybe a little less and gets paid a little less as individuals than that single-earner male did, but their combined income is higher than the single-earner salary of old. (We also have smaller households today than in the past due to higher divorce rates. And a lot more salary taken in the form of "benefits" which makes comparison of the raw dollar rate misleading.)

aianus 13y ago
And yet the smartphone I have in my pocket would be worth billions back then. Even the poor today are much richer in many ways than the richest people alive in 1967.
- WalterBright 13y ago
  That could be the plot of a great time travel movie!
- digitalengineer 13y ago
  Yes, but one cannot eat a smartpone. Poor families care more about things like healthy food, groceries and fuel. The sad part of this 'New Normal' is things like smartphones and TV's becoming cheaper and things a family can't live without are becoming more expensive. (Although I have to hand it to the US, they can export their inflation because of the reserve currency status).
  - glenra 13y ago
    Food is a lot cheaper now than it was then. As is clothing, especially at Walmart. If you look through an old Sears catalog the worker-hours needed to buy pretty much everything people buy has declined - all the stuff is cheaper, not just electronics. (Ikea helps too!) Buying a house might be more expensive, but the average house is so much bigger and better today that it's hard to do a direct comparison.
eli_gottlieb 13y ago
How about measuring in household income per hour worked?

by glenra 13y ago

aianus 13y ago

And yet the smartphone I have in my pocket would be worth billions back then. Even the poor today are much richer in many ways than the richest people alive in 1967.

WalterBright 13y ago
That could be the plot of a great time travel movie!
digitalengineer 13y ago
Yes, but one cannot eat a smartpone. Poor families care more about things like healthy food, groceries and fuel. The sad part of this 'New Normal' is things like smartphones and TV's becoming cheaper and things a family can't live without are becoming more expensive. (Although I have to hand it to the US, they can export their inflation because of the reserve currency status).
- glenra 13y ago
  Food is a lot cheaper now than it was then. As is clothing, especially at Walmart. If you look through an old Sears catalog the worker-hours needed to buy pretty much everything people buy has declined - all the stuff is cheaper, not just electronics. (Ikea helps too!) Buying a house might be more expensive, but the average house is so much bigger and better today that it's hard to do a direct comparison.

eli_gottlieb 13y ago

How about measuring in household income per hour worked?