Posted by Sir Four at 3:57pm Nov 1 '08The 20th Century was America's century. During this time we saw the establishment of a strong middle class. Times were good.
But help me understand something. Average Joe workers were able to afford a house, a car, an annual vacation, and some luxuries. Thanks in part to strong unions, they were paid good wages, received health care, and a generous pension for retirement. Now, these weren't brilliant people, either. We're talking about forklift operators, assembly line workers, construction guys, and so forth. Oh yeah, it should also be pointed out that the top tax rate between the 1930s and 1970s hovered at or above 70% the entire time. But times were good!
So what happened? In subsequent decades, worker productivity relentlessly increased. Innovations improved efficiency. Among the middle class, blue collar work began to be replaced by even more efficient and lucrative knowledge work. At the same time, generous pensions quickly became a thing of the past. Wages didn't keep up with inflation. This despite the alleged trickle-down effect that slashing the top tax rates was supposed to initiate!
What is going on, folks? Could it be that all the fruits of the gains from middle class labor have been captured by the economic elite class--the same people who don't want to give benefits as generous as once were given, and who would send your job to Asia in a heartbeat if it would save them a buck? When you hear that a CEO in the 1970s made 20 times the average worker's salary but now makes 400 times the average worker's salary, does the answer not become obvious?
But help me understand something. Average Joe workers were able to afford a house, a car, an annual vacation, and some luxuries. Thanks in part to strong unions, they were paid good wages, received health care, and a generous pension for retirement. Now, these weren't brilliant people, either. We're talking about forklift operators, assembly line workers, construction guys, and so forth. Oh yeah, it should also be pointed out that the top tax rate between the 1930s and 1970s hovered at or above 70% the entire time. But times were good!
So what happened? In subsequent decades, worker productivity relentlessly increased. Innovations improved efficiency. Among the middle class, blue collar work began to be replaced by even more efficient and lucrative knowledge work. At the same time, generous pensions quickly became a thing of the past. Wages didn't keep up with inflation. This despite the alleged trickle-down effect that slashing the top tax rates was supposed to initiate!
What is going on, folks? Could it be that all the fruits of the gains from middle class labor have been captured by the economic elite class--the same people who don't want to give benefits as generous as once were given, and who would send your job to Asia in a heartbeat if it would save them a buck? When you hear that a CEO in the 1970s made 20 times the average worker's salary but now makes 400 times the average worker's salary, does the answer not become obvious?