HappySqurriel said:
I’m not certain that everyone will agree with me, but I would personally argue that the reason wages have remained static (or declined) is because manipulation of the economy has decreased productivity in many western nations. In order to "Correct" the fallout of the dot-com bubble the United States (and many western nations) pushed interest rates to near record lows and increased government spending. One of the core results of this action was growth in the economy in careers that offered little or no benefit to the economy but profited from the asset bubbles that were forming due to such (insane) policies; consider the massive explosion in day-traders and real-estate flippers and how they offer no goods or services that people would willingly pay for. With a smaller and smaller portion of the population involved in work of value, the increases in productivity went mostly towards maintaining the standard of living of everyone. |
I agree with you.
Between the bubbles being burst, as well as our trade deficits being strongly in the negative, why should we expect salaries to increase? What underlying 'thing' has America done in the past ~20 years to simply improve salaries? The truth is, we've got to where we are at through manipulations.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.