Real incomes halved since the 90s

[Cornfed]

I figure that this area incomes are less than half of what they were just 20 years ago. How about your area?

For example, someone was telling me about a job he had tiling floors 20 years ago. Unskilled workers would start at about $17 an hour. After about a year, when they could tile properly, this would go up to about $22.50. Since then, the cost of everyday like Big Macs has about doubled, so this would be the equivalent of earning about $45 per hour. Earning this for semi-skilled laboring is now unheard of. In fact they would be lucking to have even retained the same dollar amount. $45 is about what a junior doctor would get after 8 years of med school, and of course much of this would now go into debt service.

People really have been hosed by the elite recently. It is incredible that the streets are not flowing with blood.

[Ghost]

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[droid]

The right question to ask is not why the salary isn't $45, but why the big mac has doubled in price.
But it is no surprise if you realize it's a blatant warfare and welfare usury system, where just servicing interest on the debt is 200 billion a year. It's madness! No wonder the big mac has doubled in price.
Like I've said before, both the "left" and "right" believe the rich and industry pay the taxes, but the burden is really on YOU, on everything you buy.

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budg ... /spending/

[Ghost]

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[droid]

Good point Droid. Inflation causing insane prices is more accurate.

It's actually surprising that despite all the sabotage, industry and innovation actually manage to create some negative inflation, in the sense that every day you get better products (more value) at better prices, in relative terms, and sometimes in absolute terms. I just walked through walmart the other day and saw 32" flatscreens for $174.
It's amazing, imagine if all the bullshit sabotage ended, it would be unreal.

[Blue Murder]

Economics interest me, and I did well at them in school, but once we start getting macro with it I'm a child playing with coloured shapes in kindergarten. I do think doctors should be paid more, and those who have secondary knowledge (college, university, trade, military) should also be paid more. Beyond that, don't ask me anything else economic. Not smart enough for that.

[Cornfed]

The right question to ask is not why the salary isn't $45, but why the big mac has doubled in price.
But it is no surprise if you realize it's a blatant warfare and welfare usury system

That is a good point. A lot of recent inflation doesn't do much represent a debasement of the currency as the banksters taking a bigger cut. To put it another way, the purchasing power of a dollar hasn't changed that much - it is just that a large percentage of that purchasing power is going to purchase debt relief, rather than stuff that actually benefits us.

[fschmidt]

People really have been hosed by the elite recently. It is incredible that the streets are not flowing with blood.

You expect a revolution from these people?

[Adama]

It's the greed of the men at the top. They want to keep all the profits for themselves and for their investors. That's why they are reducing benefits for employees and salaries. The average worker has no choice, cause the bastards at the top do not value other humans. That is why they call them human resources rather than personnel. Humans are a resource, not people. They exported most of the good jobs, meaning there is a surplus of workers and few jobs. The drones must all compete for any job, making that job valuable, despite the relatively low wage.

Small business owners also have to comply with complex city, county, state and federal regulations, which make things difficult. Also with society being so litigious, it almost isnt worth the hassle to conduct business, knowing that some shyster may come along to sue you and take it all in a court case.

Remember that article that says that a large number of female college graduates still live at home.

All this is because they are systematically shutting down the economy one step at a time. It is done gradually, like the supposed frog in a pot of water, so that people will not notice. In another 20 years, our children will be much worse off.