Tuesday 28 August 2018

Real wages stagnate - Wikiwand

Real wages - Wikiwand

Why did real wages in America flatline after 1970? The Economic Policy Unit has its reasons in the clip below. This is a critique of the Left; it may well be true! Though the introduction to this article says that its "neutrality is in dispute". 
Some more of a look at the issue is needed. It may well be that the factors cited by EPU are the causes of flat real wages or they may be just a part of the story. In short, let's look to see if it's a more "nuanced" picture. 
One thing for sure: the picture in the chart above is startling. Real wages crushed after 1970...

/Snip
The Economic Policy Institute has blamed "intentional policy choices" by governments for real wage stagnation in this period. Stating "the abandonment of full employment as a main objective of economic policymaking, declining union density, various labor market policies and business practices, policies that have allowed CEOs and finance executives to capture ever larger shares of economic growth, and globalization policies"[4] have resulted in stagante (sic) real wages in a time of increasing productivity.