Real Wages Are in Decline: Who Woulda Thunk It?
The chart here (bigger version below) is a reminder of how many Americans have lost their ability to think, or, more precisely, how our beliefs about our thought processes are totally erroneous. In this particular case, rank and file Trump supporters, the working class, believe that they’re better off because of the policies of the U.S. president, where that’s simply untrue; the tax reform/scam, call it what you will, has caused a decline in real wages.
Of course, this phenomenon is not limited in its expression to Trump supporters (though it’s particularly pathetic in this case as, here, we’re talking about our actual quality of life, rather than mere opinions).
We all like to think that our thoughts are guided by unbiased logic and reason, yet that’s clearly not the case. In particular, we believe what we want to believe and justify our convictions with whatever horsecrap evidence happens to be handy at the time. If we’re unlucky enough to have one piece of horsecrap discredited, we immediately reach for another to replace it.
I encourage readers to check out the work of psychologist Daniel Kahneman, best known for his findings that challenge the assumption of human rationality in modern economic theory, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics. Kahneman’s breakthroughs were the subject of my interview with Dr. Jason Scorse, Chairman of the International Environmental Policy Program at The Monterey Institute of International Studies, that can be found in my second book, “Is Renewable Really Doable?”
Craig,
I guess it’s a sign of increasing desperation when you need to post graph twice (the enlargement in case no one saw the first).
I guess the desperation becomes really evident when you post little snippets from unknown tweeters without any accompanying analysis.
It’s obvious you will never learn will you ? Inventing little charts and desperate distortions while smugly sneering at “how many Americans have lost their ability to think, or, more precisely, how their beliefs about their thought processes are totally erroneous”.
Comments like that, along with the infamous “basket full of deplorables” is guaranteed to alienate enough Americans to keep the President in office.
To millions across America, after decades of neglect and decay, a lot of very bitter blue collar workers are enjoying the sense of hope and optimism brought about by the election of President Trump.
That optimism is reflected in increasing pride, a return of employment in the older American economy, and a renewal of communities across America. For the first time in decades these people feel someone is listening and on their side.
These people won’t thank you for trying to undermine the only good news they’ve heard for generations.
The US unemployment rate is 3.9% as low as it’s been for dearly forty years. More jobs are now more open than workers to fill those positions.
A huge part of the problem is the discouraged unemployed. Those who have stopped looking for a job for various reasons and have lost interest as the jobs they want are not available. That’s part of the reason why wage growth has stayed flat over the past year according the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a modest growth of only 1.2%.
This is not an American phenomenon alone, but common throughout the western world. Education and social expectations have become divorced from economic reality. This situation has not been helped by politicians and educators who helped raise unrealistic expectations.
Most of the employment growth is blue collar. Manufacturing, mining, low-paying retail and food service industries. Many of those people who lost high paying employment before the recession have been out of work so long they’ll never be able to return to the high-paying jobs they used to have. Many of those positions have disappeared, or been replaced by younger employees.
The economy is improving, but not for everyone. It’s great for blue collar workers, but not so good for employees involved in government funded programs, administrators,etc.
Most of the first corporate profits have been invested in stock buy backs, debt reduction and consolidation. These measure are of long term benefit for corporate America, making US corporations less vulnerable and increasing their ability to compete with foreign corporations. The tax cuts provided some impetus for the economy although the immediate benefits are not obvious to the average citizen.
The new tax regime has halted the slide in corporate activity and prepared the ground for reinvestment and capital expenditure. Cautious confidence is beginning to return. Given time, along with the “US first” trade policies, corporate investment will start to see growth in GDP sectors that were irretrievably dying in the American economy.
Reinvestment in these sectors will bring about a much deeper, longer lasting growth in the US economy and greater prosperity for the average American.
President Trump’s optimism maybe a little exaggerated and boastful as he talks up the US economy out of the doldrums, but why would any American, except for selfish political gain, want to talk down the economy, hoping to spoil any resurgence of hope ?
The American people won’t thank a spoiled, selfish, political elite for smugly undermining the President’s optimism.
Of the few hundred people who read this blog every day, I’m sure you’re the only one who doesn’t understand that I sometimes post larger versions of graphics that have type too small to read in the 320-pixel version at the top left.