Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity

[ckramer]

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and DAVID LEONHARDT

Published: August 28, 2006

Wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s economy since the U.S. began recording the data in 1947.

The median hourly wage for American workers has declined 2 percent since 2003, after factoring in inflation. The drop has been especially notable, economists say, because productivity — the amount that an average worker produces in an hour and the basic wellspring of a nation’s living standards — has risen steadily over the same period.

As a result, wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s gross domestic product since the government began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits have climbed to their highest share since the 1960’s. UBS, the investment bank, recently described the current period as “the golden era of profitability.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/28wages.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=3016b464Q2FYQ3D,eYl0TEQ3F00iQ5CYQ5CkkoYkxYQ5CxYeJE4L,EEYQ5CxQ3DFQ60,EQ26Q27i)6">link

[teryang]

1. The Bush administration is not responsible?

Was someone else in charge?

Working more and getting paid less, while corporate profits soar.

"The economy is pretty good." Most of the jobs came from debt financed home construction and government jobs. The manufacturing sector lost ground. A country whose manufacturing sector was exported away has an economy that is doing pretty good?

[fasttense]

2. The same thing happened in the 1920s. Happy Days Are Here Again.

Productivity continually increased but wages and salaries went down. Then in 1929, we got the great Depression. Those who do not learn from history, just keep repeating it.

[PeaceProgProsp]

4. Back then it was the 50% of Americans who made their money

from farm and agriculture-related businesses. The richest wanted to profit imensely from their labor without having to share it with them. It created two tiers and the polarization of wealth resulted in economic disaster.

[PeaceProgProsp]

3. This is scarier to me than liquid on airplanes. The Titanic

is a good metaphor: you have two tiers of wealth, the super wealthy on the upper deck and the poor locked down below deck. You hit a little ice berg and the whole thing is going to flip over. You can't have polarization of wealth like that and expect your society to survive.

[Thickasabrick]

5. This is what will turn things around if enough people read it and

realize how the majority of americans have been screwed with the top 1% doing the screwing. Tax cuts my ass.