Flat wages, soaring profits

I'm reading "The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Workers," by New York Time labor reporter Steven Greenhouse. I'm only a couple of chapters into the book, but already, the numbers make me wanna holler.

Worker productivity is up 60 percent since 1979. Not that it did the worketing stiff much good.

Wages during that period for 80 percent of U.S. workers -- non-supervisors working in the private sector -- are up 1 percent after being adjusted for inflation. Wages for men are acutally down 5 percent.

Who made out? Stockholders. Corporate profits from 2001-2007 jumped an average of 13 percent a year.

The working poor are getting hit especially hard. And there are lots of them. Almost one-quarter of the work force earns less than $10 a hour. Yeah, some of them are students, but many are a mom or dad trying to support a family. Raise a family of four on those wages and you're below the poverty line. Which is growing, by the way, up 15 percent, or 5.6 million people, from 2000 to 2006.

Greenhouse's findings are summed up by his Times colleague Paul Krugman:

"It's a great economy if you're a high-level corporate executive or someone who owns a lot of stoock. For most other Americans, economic growth is a spectator sport."

Part One of a Greenhouse interview on Democracy Now! is posted above. Part Two is below. They both run about 10 minues each.

Here's a book review from the New York Times. Read it and weep.

Comments

[BobbyCat]

You read books? Really. Rush sez that them fellas that read books are probly liberal commie whacko's and ain't to be trusted nohow.

[Mike]

No problem, our Lord and Savior, the almighty Obama will lead us from our wretchedness and sins to a new beginning.

[Hank]

Just looking at wages, productivity, and profits only shows disparities. The ominous cloud is in three insuperable areas: the rise in commodity prices worldwide, and more in food than even oil; the fractured credit markets and wall street taxpayer-funded bailouts still to come; and a debit-ridden U.S. Government where the U.S. Dollar could be repudiated by foreign debt-holders. The overall inequitable burden on the less-well off, including from health care costs, will threaten society
fundamentally. The baby boomers reaching retirement age will have their security blanket taken from under them. Argentina may be a precursor for the U.S.

[Mike D.]

Thanks for that nugget of wisdom, Mike -- if you can convince me that McCain will do anything of consequence as president, let me know and maybe I'll vote for him.

[Cary_Oakee]

Some comments (not necessarily rebuttal):
1. It is not clear to me whether the (it appears compound) annual growth rate in corporate profits stated above is for only domestic operations, or includes international operations. It could be possible for domestically derived profit % growth to be far less than the aggregate.
2. Inflation-adjusted Public employee wage growth is not mentioned. I'm just curious...
3. I grew up in a household living below the poverty line. Statistically, there will always be people living below the poverty line as long as such lines are set as "$$ income for a household of N people". i.e., there will always be a bottom quartile or quintile of income, or people, depending on how you want to count/stratify. What is more relevant (to me at least) is what those modest income levels afford.
4. I am curious as to what the income and poverty statistics show when normalized / corrected for divorce. i.e., has the number / % of people living below the poverty line increased just due to the increase in divorce rate?
5. Hank's comments below are spot-on. Those with children who will enter the work force in the next 15-20 years should be particularly concerned re: their children's future.

[sapster]

Over two+ billion a week,...for just ONE ..."ILLEGAL" OCCUPATION.
That ain't what the neo-cons assured us repeatedly, with confidence, on msm.

$1,500 a "SECOND",...in PROFIT???

How many sheer disasterous FACTS, will it take before SOMEONE does SOMETHING?

[kansas]

sunoco made $4.2 million an hour for the first three months of 2008. let's hear it for the pay freeze.

[RealBuff]

Mike D - Spot on.

One thing to consider, up to this point in time, gas, bread, (throw in anything you want) has never been cheaper to produce and therefore costs are less (comparatively speaking). My point is that inflation is part of a cycle, and its inflation time.

Another consideration, I came from a home that was worse than below poverty, but just high enough to never qualify for assistance. I know what its like to live without lots of money. Even with tight budgets, we stayed clear of debt and had great times as a family. The average poor person has over 3 tv's in their house and tends to watch them instead of looking for work or planning for their future.

I see a world full of opportunity, and personally have never made as much money as I do now. Its hard to feel sorry for a portion of society who doesnt plan.

[Robert C. Laity]

I see Brant's curtailment of it's people's freedom of speech (not being able to talk at town meetings without prior approval) to be anathema to our US Constitution.-Robert Laity,Founder and President,Society for the Preservation of Democracy,founded during the Bi-centennial of the US Constitution on September 17,1987

[Robert C. Laity]

I can't vote for Obama because he's pro-choice. I can't vote for Mc Cain because he's Bushesque. I wanted Bush because he's pro-life. Mc Cain is also pro-life. However, Bush damaged this country's democracy. He loves kids but is a sub-par president. I am going to vote for the Right-to-life candidate. The late Blessed Pope John-Paul II said that "a nation that destroys
it's children has no hope". Repeal Roe v. Wade now.

[Robert Laity]

Seems McCain and Obama are in the same class of liberal!