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There's a graph out there, or several, showing annual real median income plotted against productivity gains. Income has lagged in the aggregate, significantly
by jbooth 13y ago
There's a graph out there, or several, showing annual real median income plotted against productivity gains. Income has lagged in the aggregate, significantly. It's also lagged when plotted against GDP. Both since the early 80s.
Volatility's a red herring. Look at the 3-decade trendline.
- yummyfajitas 13y agoIt's true that median income does not well correlated with mean productivity. What is the relevance to this topic?
- jbooth 13y agoYou can slice it any way you want, the preponderance of evidence points to median and average wages both trailing productivity in the long run. Arguments about short-run volatility that don't address this fact are hand-wavy.
- yummyfajitas 13y agoWhy would productivity be related to wages? To put it concretely, if I replace 4/5 workers with a small shell script, does that mean the 5'th worker deserves a pay raise? (For the sake of argument, say his work and output has not changed at all.)
- jbooth 13y agoIf you're working there, it would be a case of the 6th worker, you, replacing 4/5 of his peers with a shell script. Would you deserve a raise? If you're being anecdotal, you can justify whatever you want. In the aggregate, wages have lagged productivity, corporate profits have skyrocketed while US wages have stagnated relative to inflation.