Feb 19 - 40% Of Americans Now Make Less Than 1968 Minimum Wage

You may have seen the charts showing how working people’s wages stopped going up along with productivity gains:

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This means the gains went … somewhere else. See if you can guess who got them? (Hint: it’s the 1%; this is one driver of the terrible income and wealth inequality.) This breakoff of wages from productivity growth is partly (largely?) the result of trade agreements that pit Americans against exploited workers in non-democracies. This weakened the bargaining power of unions, moved factories and industries out of the country, devastated entire regions of our country — and gave the giant multinational corporations, Wall Street and the billionaires the leverage they needed…

Economist Dean Baker describes one effect of this in Minimum Wage: Who Decided Workers Should Fall Behind?

“If the minimum wage had risen in step with productivity growth [since 1968], it would be over $16.50 an hour today. That is higher than the hourly wages earned by 40 percent of men and half of women.”
Baker is referring to this CEPR study: The Minimum Wage and Economic Growth.

40% Of Americans Now Make Less Than 1968 Minimum Wage

Read what Baker wrote again. The minimum wage would be $16.50 an hour — $33,000 a year — if it had kept up with the growth of productivity since 1968. To put the effect of this a different way, 40% of Americans now make less than the 1968 minimum wage, had the minimum wage kept pace with productivity gains.

To put this even another way, the average American’s living standard would be much, much higher today if wages had not decoupled from productivity gains – with the gains all going to the 1% instead of being shared by We, the People. If wages had kept pace we wouldn’t feel the terrible squeeze that everyone in the middle cla#s is feeling. (Never mind what has happened to those below the middle cla#s.)

This is one more way to understand the effect of income and wealth inequality on each of us. The 1%/99% thing is real. When you hear that the 6 Walmart heirs have more wealth than 1/3 (or more) of all Americans combined, it is real. When you hear that the people on the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined, it is real.

And the effects on the rest of us are real.

!! is ridiculous man...don't know how it's ever going to get fixed


and these companies are making record profits yet not hiring. The !! sense does that make? Fire people during recession because ur taking losses. Now they have rebounded and making the most they ever have and have not started hiring again just putting the !! in their pocket

!! is ridiculous man...don't know how it's ever going to get fixed


and these companies are making record profits yet not hiring. The !! sense does that make? Fire people during recession because ur taking losses. Now they have rebounded and making the most they ever have and have not started hiring again just putting the !! in their pocket

!! is ridiculous man...don't know how it's ever going to get fixed


and these companies are making record profits yet not hiring. The !! sense does that make? Fire people during recession because ur taking losses. Now they have rebounded and making the most they ever have and have not started hiring again just putting the !! in their pocket

But but but people are lazy and just need to work harder so they can live the American dream... right?

But but but people are lazy and just need to work harder so they can live the American dream... right?

That's the point. [pic] Why would I hire more people and lose money that could go towards my !! when I can just have the people that currently work for me take on a heavier load.

Capitalism is just a grand pyramid scheme. The greatest issue is that people don't know how the system works and end up struggling just to break even for their entire lives.