US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973 • Hacker News Board

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#71

Post by nickjj » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #12

NoblePublius wrote: post #5

How 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…

I'd like to see that same graph but going back to 1980.

Back in the early 80s you could buy a house in an expensive state (NY) for about 50-60k but today a similar house goes for around 400k.

But a lot of people in the 80s and early 90s made equal or more money than they do today, like a legit dollar for dollar amount more. Certain industries paid 35k-40k a year back then but pay 30-35k today, which is a massive difference considering how much more things are today than back in the 80s.

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#72

Post by kaycebasques » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 6:16 PM UTC

refurb wrote: post #52

kaycebasques wrote: post #28

Now that I’m a bit older (29) it’s fascinating to reflect back on my childhood and teenage years in the context of economic trends. I’ve been interviewing my grandpa to make a biography of his life and it’s mind-blowing to hear about how different the 50s were. A teacher (grandpa) and a part-time worker (grandma) supporting 2 babies and a senior (great grandma), yet still able to buy a home in Millbrae and a plot of…

A teacher (grandpa) and a part-time worker (grandma) supporting 2 babies and a senior (great grandma), yet still able to buy a home in Millbrae and a plot of land in Tahoe (which my family still has to this day) I can guarantee you right now, you could buy a home and a plot of land that will be out of reach for most people 40 years from now. The question is - where will that be? Your grandparents probably had no idea…

For sure. Millbrae was farmland back then. My grandpa grew up in SF and had never heard of it. And it took 8 hours to get to Tahoe from SF.

One difference is they didn’t have to think about whether it would pan out in the long run. They needed a bigger house. They could get one 15 minutes away from SF, where my grandpa was stationed at the time.

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#73

Post by dsfyu404ed » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 6:19 PM UTC

kaycebasques wrote: post #28

Now that I’m a bit older (29) it’s fascinating to reflect back on my childhood and teenage years in the context of economic trends. I’ve been interviewing my grandpa to make a biography of his life and it’s mind-blowing to hear about how different the 50s were. A teacher (grandpa) and a part-time worker (grandma) supporting 2 babies and a senior (great grandma), yet still able to buy a home in Millbrae and a plot of…

My grandfather supported nine kids on a single government salary and he took them on a vacation to Cape Cod every year. He was a compliance auditor for a federal agency. He wasn't the only person like this. His experience is totally unremarkable. It's just amazing how well off everyone was back then.

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#74

Post by tonyedgecombe » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 6:21 PM UTC

SlipperySlope wrote: post #2

High tariffs on imports help to bring back USA manufacturing no doubt. All sufficiently large economies should protect their domestic industries with tariffs. Otherwise its a race to the bottom for labor wages.

Then your own industries will become complacent, leaving everybody poorer.

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#75

Post by newsoul2019 » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 6:34 PM UTC

kaycebasques wrote: post #37

mertd wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also got this little thing called Prop 13 in California between then and now. That and we figured out how to make really tiny transistors and the entirely new industry set up shop here.

For sure, there’s myriad factors. And the Bay Area has its own unique history. My main idea is that studying economic history has provided a rich layer of new understanding about the lives of my family.

As someone who is not from the Bay Area, lives currently in the Bay Area, is not wealthy, and from a family that is not wealthy: I spend a lot of time ( too much time ) trying to figure out how everyone around me is wealthy. There are a lot of paths to wealth. The most common elements are previous family wealth, hard work, frugality, but also really good long-term decision making ( keep the first house you buy forever ) and skills that can't be taught (sheer will and ambition).

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#76

Post by aristophenes » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 6:36 PM UTC

lokidokiro wrote: post #24

Another way of writing the same title that sounds completely different: "Inflation adjusted US wages reach highest level since 1973." I'll never understand what compels journalists (or wannabe journalists) to insert words like "finally" into their headlines. It would have been just fine without that one word.

Or "Inflation adjusted US Wages hit a new all time high, first since 1973". There really are not a lot of ways to spin this in a negative way, but somehow they did it. Why try to make people feel depressed about it? It's great!

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#77

Post by sctb » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 6:40 PM UTC

NoblePublius wrote: post #48

saagarjha wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering that the homeless person likely does not have food security or a place to live, which I would consider to be significantly more important than being able to tell the time, I would have to disagree with your claim that the homeless person is “better off”.

He’s homeless because he’s probably a drug addict or mentally ill, in which case he wouldn’t have lasted very long as Charlemagne

Could you please not post combo uncivil-unsubstantive comments? We've asked you already to follow the guidelines so perhaps you could review them.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#78

Post by rayiner » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 6:44 PM UTC

danans wrote: post #62

rayiner wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is misleading in an important respect. While real wages haven't budged much (they certainly haven't declined), benefits, which are tax-advantaged relative to wages, have increased quite a bit. For example, while wages rose 3% since 2000, benefits rose 22%: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us... . The changes you're talking about regarding quality of life more have to do with incre…

> The article is misleading in an important respect. While real wages haven't budged much (they certainly haven't declined), benefits, which are tax-advantaged relative to wages, have increased quite a bit. For example, while wages rose 3% since 2000, benefits rose 22%: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us... . Despite the article not mentioning benefits, the primary reason for the increase in…

"Increases in labor compensation are being eaten up by increases in benefits costs" is a different statement than "labor compensation isn't increasing." From the employer's point of view, whether they're spending 22% more because of higher salaries or more expensive benefits doesn't make a difference.

And the implications are different for policy. If labor compensation isn't going up, that suggests a structural problem in the economy. If labor compensation is going up, but it's being eaten up by increasing healthcare, education, and housing costs, then that suggests targeted reforms are necessary in those sectors.

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#79

Post by supersleepgrump » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 6:57 PM UTC

I really think these numbers are antiquated, and with modern data science, a more robust picture of wages and employee compensation will emerge.

The median salary only accounts for the top 30% of Americans, and almost every job that pays more than $23/hr requires a college degree, not to mention that training / education / certification is financed through families and individuals, increasing their debt burden, which brings down their real wages. And that's one parameter, individual debt has also been increasing, as well as the gradual decline of the interest rates since the 70s.

All-in-all the bigger picture is more complex, and with every metric of inequality increasing, globally, I think the numbers calculated for inflation adjusted average wages for production and non-supervisory workers are antiquated.

Re: US Wages Finally Get Back to Where They Were in 1973

#80

Post by segmondy » Fri, Apr 19, 2019, 7:00 PM UTC

kaycebasques wrote: post #28

Now that I’m a bit older (29) it’s fascinating to reflect back on my childhood and teenage years in the context of economic trends. I’ve been interviewing my grandpa to make a biography of his life and it’s mind-blowing to hear about how different the 50s were. A teacher (grandpa) and a part-time worker (grandma) supporting 2 babies and a senior (great grandma), yet still able to buy a home in Millbrae and a plot of…

A teacher in 1950 is not the same as a teacher in 2019. There were less teacher's then, the value was more. We will be saying the same for programmer's too. In 2019 a programmer made a lot of money, but in 2089 a programmer can't afford a roof over their head...