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Just came across this long-term quintiles of inflation-adjusted US household income - amazing the difference. If you didn't believe the wage/productivity divergence, it's hard to argue with this.
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Iโ€™ve never seen anyone deny this, but many so defend this picture, as inโ€ฆ pre-1974 middle class was free riding on easy growth, and the productivity trend post 1974 only continued because of deregulation in the face of globalized competition and oil shocks
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More fascinating than the turn in the wage graph is the lack of a turn in the productivity graph despite ending of post-WW2 easy dominance of a war devastated world. The easy growth ended but the growth continued through tech and automation.
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In general economics is the wrong lens on this. Something more basic has broken. A sort of cultural deal among the classes. The wealthy are seen as having abdicated their leadership responsibilities that come with greater wealth share. Noblesse no-oblige.
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Seems like death of unions killed the power base maintaining a more equitable social contract. I think that's upstream of current elite cultural failure. Pre-Depression/WWII the labor movement was a big force before post-war solidarity.
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