Phew. It only took pumping some trillions into the pockets(assets) of multimillionaires to finally trickle down to 1973 levels.
US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
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Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
#12How much did a 55” LCD TV cost in 1973? Cuz they’re $249 now.
There's a great graphic that shows what goods/services are more and less expensive now vs 1998.
https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/price-changes-in-usa-in-pas...
TVs are definitely more affordable, but Hospital Services and College is really not. Somewhat surprisingly it looks like Housing is more affordable (rising, but less than average earnings).
I think these longitudinal studies of the wage/cost relationships are really valuable as they provide a lot of insight into what people feel about the economy and where things are going.
Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
#13How much did a 55” LCD TV cost in 1973? Cuz they’re $249 now.
Yeah, they take that into account when calculating inflation, which is why CPI is quoted at 1% when the cost of housing, food, gas, health care, college tuition (i.e. everything you actually need) is more like 10%.
Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you live in a TV and eat it? Cause the average rent was $175 dollars a month http://www.littlehouseinthevalley.com/cost-of-living-compari...
Thank you for proving my point that life is very different today than it was in 1973, and that comparing wages across decades is dumb.
Life is not fundamentally different. Little details are different, but people still buy houses or pay rent, buy cars, buy food, pay for education, pay for entertainment, etc.
Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
#15To be precise, for "production" and "nonsupervisory" workers. Doesn't say anything about the size of this population, and how representative it is of the general earnings potential of the US as a whole.
Production and non-supervisory is most people
It's probably less "most people" than it was in 1973, though.
Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
#16How much did a 55” LCD TV cost in 1973? Cuz they’re $249 now.
Using that logic, a homeless person with a casio watch is better off than Charlemagne.
We should be comparing now with now. And most importantly, we should be comparing wealth inequality because wealth translates directly to power and wealth inequality means power inequality.
Nobody is competing against anyone from 1973 or 1873. We are competing against people today. And the accumulation of wealth and power by a small group of elites should concern everyone regardless of the price of insignificant trinkets.
Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great. Now let's do college.
Thank you for proving my point that life is very different today than it was in 1973, and that comparing wages across decades is dumb
You're gonna need to connect the dots for us here re: why that necessarily makes the comparison dumb.
Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
#18Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
#19Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973
#20To be precise, for "production" and "nonsupervisory" workers. Doesn't say anything about the size of this population, and how representative it is of the general earnings potential of the US as a whole.
This pool of workers includes those in manufacturing and construction jobs, as well as all “nonsupervisory” workers in service industries such health care or fast food. The group accounts for about four-fifths of the privately employed workers in America, according to BLS.