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US economy going strong under Biden – Americans don’t believe it
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2023
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politics
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The economy matter less to the individual when wage growth has stagnated and most Americans are living pay check to pay check. The economy is healthy for the millionaire class, not the every day American.
Isn't that a feature of capitalism though, if people are forced to work 2-3 jobs at 60-70 hr/wk to cover bills, you have way more wealth generation per capita than if they were only working 32 hr/wk. The more you exploit your labor, the more your economy is booming.
I think the economy should never be a standard of measure.
Real Median Wages: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q
Wage growth hasn't stagnated for the vast majority of Americans.
How would that chart look if the y-axis started at 0?
Much flatter... 310-390 as opposed to what's ostensibly a 10-90 scale visually.
I'm not sure thats possible. There probably hasnt ever been a time when the median Wages were $0
The number 0 still exists. The chart does show arbitrary values higher and lower than the line. Choosing a lower limit other than 0 is a dishonest choice. It's the first lesson I taught kids about when I touched on media literacy. Ask yourself why the author chose the mode they used and any arbitrary choices they made.
That's not the point--because the y-axis doesn't start at zero, the changes in wages look more drastic than they actually are.
I'm not sure I follow, the OP is clearly wrong about wages not increasing. Real wages are increasing.
Christ I don't know how you look at that without being disgusted unless you are literally just seeing a line go up and stopping all thought processes at that.
That is a 40 year period with a net increase of $50 per week.
The inflation from 1980 to now averages about 3% per year or a cumulative 270+% in those 40 years.
The purchasing power of $315 in 1980 is equivalent to roughly $1,300 today (and it's technically more based on metrics).
So us making $365 today means we are getting the equivalent of a pay reduction to $90 in 1980 or a drop of 72% of our pay
The average American is making ~28% of what an equivalent job would be in 1980!
No we aren't better off. I don't know how you couldn't be sickened by that.
This is real median wages. This takes into account inflation.
Oh also just to add onto that.
It means to be making an average wage for 1980 you would have to be making ~$35/hr to be making $1,400 a week or $70,000 a year to be middle class so no wonder people say wage happiness starts at $72,000 a year it's literally where you need to be to have the purchasing power of someone 40 years ago.
Any lower than $35/hr and you have been lowered further down the rung of lower class. So if you are making federal minimum wage you have been fucked for some time. Everyone should look at their own wages and how it matches to $35/hr and realize how we have been screwed over.
$30 of increase since the 1980s is entirely are up by problems in how we measure CPI. Even the understatement in housing alone would eat up that "increase."
$30 of real wages increase.
Yes we do have a housing shortage, but OP is wrong about wages not increasing
Systemic problems in how we measure "real" dollars have probably outpaced $30 in that timeframe.
Things are also getting better for the working poor.
The middle class is the one seeing few benefits.