You really should look at these graphs that accompanied an article by Robert Reich in yesterday's NY Times. Reich argues that a major part of our financial problems is due to the decline of the middle class and the rise of the ultra-wealthy. I couldn't figure out how to copy the graphs so that they would be readable. Let me summarize them. Reich divides the years since WWII into two time periods: the Great Prosperity (1947-1979) and the Great Regression (1980-now).
- In the Great Prosperity average pay for production and non-supervisory workers doubled and productivity increased by 119%. In the Great Recession pay has increased by 8% and productivity by 80%.
- In the Great Prosperity the gain in income for those at the top was less on a percentage basis than those beneath the. In the Great Recession that was reversed, the top people had a much larger income gain than all beneath them.
- The percent of debt to household income went from 26% in 1947 to 120% today.
The charts are based on government data.
No comments:
Post a Comment