[P]erhaps the voters are sensible and the economists are obtuse. And perhaps the indicators on which economists rely no longer mean what economists suppose them to mean.

  • t3rmit3@beehaw.org
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    8 months ago

    Income != wages. Income inequality is still increasing.

    The ultra-rich don’t get most of their obscene wealth growth from wages, they get it from investments and assets, and the fall in average household savings shows that the increased wages at the bottom isn’t translating to more financial security, it’s getting eaten up by increasing prices in many different sectors.

    • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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      8 months ago

      Income != wages

      What do you mean by this?

      Income inequality is still increasing.

      Source? Mine is here and here although I’m happy to delve into more detailed statistical tables if you want to do that.

      The ultra-rich don’t get most of their obscene wealth growth from wages, they get it from investments and assets

      Agreed. I was careful to phrase it as “wage earners” when I was talking about wage earners at the 90th percentile losing ground; I’m sure at the 99.9th percentile it’s still going up yes, which is a problem.

      the fall in average household savings shows that the increased wages at the bottom isn’t translating to more financial security

      Can you explain a little more what you mean by this?

      it’s getting eaten up by increasing prices in many different sectors.

      What’s your source? I sent a couple already which specifically show wages growing outpacing inflation, at the bottom end of the scale. So we have historic levels of inflation because of a couple of different reasons, and the wage growth at the bottom is still beating inflation by about 7%, which means in absolute terms it’s quite a bit larger than that.