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RadioRaheem84
27th March 2010, 17:40
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_425055.html

Bourgeois economist thinks that the fact that real wages haven't risen sine the 70s is a good thing for Americans as while their dollar doesn't go far, certain goods are cheaper and thus we can have a better standard of living as a result. So a calculator that cost 100 bucks back in the 70s is now 8 bucks. So in essence, we can hide our poverty wages behind consumer products? We can use debt to make up the difference?

Did this man forget to include that production went overseas and over-exploited foreigners make our products now so we can afford them? Did he forget to include the fact that we have cheap credit to buy these goods too, which made up for out falling purchasing power?

I mean why do these economists think that economic changes just happen out of a vacuum and they have nothing to do with major policy changes? They like to act as if this all happens naturally. "It's just natural to take factories we once had at home to the third world for cheap labour".

Die Neue Zeit
27th March 2010, 17:44
They have been depressed, actually.

Real wages are currently calculated based on inflation being chain-weighted, as opposed to more traditional inflation measures before the 1990s. Chain weighting lowers the rate of inflation than true inflation.

RadioRaheem84
27th March 2010, 18:04
How so? So they've been artificially depressed?

Die Neue Zeit
27th March 2010, 18:21
http://fskrealityguide.blogspot.com/2008/07/cpi-is-biased.html

The blog link above is very useful. A general guide to real wage depression can be found in my programmatic commentary on the "Iron Law of Disproportionate Immiseration." ;)