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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]the US is *EXCEPTIONALLY* good at increasing the productivity of, as evident through our GDP. [/quote]

Wage growth is trailing productivity growth by a LOT. Starting around 1980. Why do you think that is? [/quote]

^^^
Link for above: https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/[/quote]

Thanks for the link, it actually shows that the divergence started in the early 70s, say around 1973. So here's a graph that should be interesting to you:

[img]https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/datahub/thumbnail-US-ImmNumberShare.png[/img]

The sharp rise is due to the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which greatly increased immigration into the US starting in the early 70s, exactly the point where you started to see wage stagnation. Since 1965, immigration and their descendants have accounted for about 55% of the US population growth. Also significant is the increased female workforce participation during the same period, rising sharply in the 70s and 80s:

[img]https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wo5A6xV_7HQ/WfM6JQckYTI/AAAAAAAAIfE/dg5V2R9e3aQd6sEU3idtVDrgLeFG_iVyACLcBGAs/s1600/women%2B5.jpg[/img]

The combination of dramatically increased immigration and women workforce participation produced an abundant supply of labor, which kept wages stagnant during the same period of time. The logic is simple if we use the income approach for GDP calculation:

GPD = Workers x Wages

If GPD grew but Wages was stagnant, that means the number of workers grew.

Note that I am not saying it is wrong for the US to take on immigration, or that it is wrong for women to enter the work force. It's in fact a strong argument that the influx of immigration and women into the labor force is one of the key drivers of US GDP growth, because the flip side of stagnant wages is that it has kept the price of goods and services low, making the US more competitive in the global market. But we must not ignore the facts, which are that the result is also stagnant wages. [/quote]

Let's not gloss over Reagan's introduction of trickle down economics at that time as well. And the mid 70's saw a huge backlash against Ralph Nader. When he worked to get seat belts in American cars, corporations went crazy with flooding money to make sure they would not have to bend again to the will of the American consumer. Elizabeth Warren gave an amazing interview about this- from 1935 until 1980, the middle class thrived, but for the past 40 years, they have been screwed.

Case in point:

[img]https://i.imgur.com/7LmLdB7.jpg[/img]

It was an almost perfect storm of circumstances. The conservatives, much like now, felt underheard and underrepresented. Elected a president who had, not bad ideas, ineffective ideas for the economy. On top of that, credit card companies were able to market to the consumer en masse, and a shift happened where an emerging middle class was trying to one up each other and their parents- hence debt. Add to that a surge in educated available workers? And you have little to no reason to increase worker wages. In fact workers' efficiency has skyrocketed with the advent of computers, but culture has continued to push corporation and money over people, and so the profits are withheld from the public.

And now we need to ask ourselves: Under three Democratic Presidents since 1980, nothing has changed, why?

What I can't understand is so many people, not the bought and sold politicians, but my contemporaries being able to see the same information as I have and not getting that for 40 years this has not worked. Why so many people I know don't get that 'progressive' values are simply what most of the world already embraces. But beyond that, that for example, 70% of Americans support Medicare for All. That is HUGE! Yet, Democratic senators won't sign on and do NOT support what their constituents want.

I mean, come on. America is changing and our politicians are not.

Stop believing this fantasy that we must stay in the center- it's a lie. All great change comes from stepping away from the crowd and reassessing what our current society needs. Our American middle class is disappearing, we have a 7 dollar slave minimum wage in 2019, and moderates would rather appease the insurance industry than make sure Americans have real health care.

We need to rethink everything.

We need new ideas, immediately.

We need to do a house cleaning, to get real Progressives in.[/quote]

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