Most tech revolutions made work worse for employees • Hacker News Board

Re: Most tech revolutions made work worse for employees

#141

Post by s1artibartfast » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 11:27 PM UTC

anonymars wrote: post #138

s1artibartfast wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Comp over GDP is slightly down, but is still increasing overall... https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LEU0252881600A The original parent claim was: > The US Department of Labor measures wages, and adjusted for inflation the hourly wage is below what it was in 1973. It is even lower if you are only counting non-management roles then and now. Wages have not gotten better over the past half century they have gotten wo…

> Comp over GDP is slightly down, but is still increasing overall... > https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LEU0252881600A That graph does not represent Comp over GDP so it does not show it "is still increasing overall" > The original parent claim was:... Maybe so, but my post is a direct response to > ...the increasing share of the economy consumed by the government... > [the hourly wage] is a misleading statistic. Th…

So you agree that real salaries and compensation are not down since 1970? That is my main point.

Re: Most tech revolutions made work worse for employees

#142

Post by smallmancontrov » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:08 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #140

smallmancontrov wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Louis Brandeis would like a word. In particular: no, the fact that tech advances and economies of scale dropped oil prices at the same time Rockefeller was building his monopoly does not make that monopoly harmless or good or justify it into perpetuity. More importantly, after Ronald Reagan and Robert Bork brought us back to robber-baron era antitrust policy, we've seen robber-baron level corporate consolidation and…

So, dropping kerosene prices by 70% due to tech advances and economies of scale was terrible for consumers? Do you have any evidence that corporate profit margins have increased?

[dead]

Re: Most tech revolutions made work worse for employees

#143

Post by WalterBright » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 4:12 PM UTC

Fricken wrote: post #133

WalterBright wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Before 200 years ago we lived as hunter gatherers Agriculture ended that thousands of years ago. Even the Indians practiced farming. So did the Pilgrims, and the first settlement, Jamestown. Hunter gathering can only sustain a small population.

The important part is that it's sustainable.

Never mind the extinction of the large fauna after the Ice Age. We don't know for sure, but a leading suspect is predation by humans.

Re: Most tech revolutions made work worse for employees

#144

Post by anonymars » Fri, Aug 07, 2026, 1:27 AM UTC

s1artibartfast wrote: post #141

anonymars wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Comp over GDP is slightly down, but is still increasing overall... > https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LEU0252881600A That graph does not represent Comp over GDP so it does not show it "is still increasing overall" > The original parent claim was:... Maybe so, but my post is a direct response to > ...the increasing share of the economy consumed by the government... > [the hourly wage] is a misleading statistic. Th…

So you agree that real salaries and compensation are not down since 1970? That is my main point.

Sure, I never said otherwise

Re: Most tech revolutions made work worse for employees

#145

Post by cluckindan » Sun, Aug 09, 2026, 1:35 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #70

cluckindan wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything changed with floating currency. Inflation became a tool for centralization of ownership.

Inflation is caused by deficit spending. It is a tool for government to increase spending without raising taxes.

I believe inflation is caused by people with too much money spending it frivolously and overpaying for everything.