Re: [Marxism] Wage share lowest since at least 1947. Profit share greatest since 1960s. Minimum wage at 50-year low

["Sayan Bhattacharyya" <ok.president+marxmail@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 8/28/06, Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Cook sees two economies, one that is going great guns and the other
> is that of the working stiffs. Hmm, aren't they both the same economy
> and don't they describe the two poles of one thing.

> REAL WAGES FAIL TO MATCH A RISE IN PRODUCTIVITY

Paul Krugman has an op-ed about this in today's New York Times. (I
can't quote it in full or link to it as it's copyright-protected,
being "for subscribers only". But here's a partial quote).

"The stagnation of real wages -- wages adjusted for inflation --
actually goes back more than 30 years. The real wage of nonsupervisory
workers reached a peak in the early 1970's, at the end of the postwar
boom. Since then workers have sometimes gained ground, sometimes lost
it, but they have never earned as much per hour as they did in 1973.

"Meanwhile, the decline of employer benefits began in the Reagan
years, although there was a temporary improvement during the
Clinton-era boom. The most crucial benefit, employment-based health
insurance, has been in rapid decline since 2000.

"Ordinary American workers seem to understand the long-term disconnect
between economic growth and their own fortunes better than most
political analysts. Consider, for example, the results of a new poll
of American workers by the Pew Research Center.

"The center finds that workers perceive a long-term downward trend in
their economic status. A majority say that it's harder to earn a
decent living than it was 20 or 30 years ago, and a plurality say that
job benefits are worse too.

[..]

"Why have workers done so badly in a rich nation that keeps getting
richer? That's a matter of dispute, although I believe there's a large
political component: what we see today is the result of a
quarter-century of policies that have systematically reduced workers'
bargaining power.

"The important question now, however, is whether we're finally going
to try to do something about the big disconnect. Wages may be
difficult to raise, but we won't know until we try. And as for
declining benefits -- well, every other advanced country manages to
provide everyone with health insurance, while spending less on health
care than we do.

"The big disconnect, in other words, provides as good an argument as
you could possibly want for a smart, bold populism. All we need now
are some smart, bold populist politicians."

The Big Disconnect
New York Times,
September 1, 2006
Author: PAUL KRUGMAN

Full text (subscriber-only):
<http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/opinion/01krugman.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=2d0efdd0Q2FQ234FQ5DQ23sQ3CXvvsQ23Q22Q25Q25bQ23Q25mQ23Q25oQ23vd0A0vAQ23Q25oBXG@8Q60A!gs8_>

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