Re:Revealed: the 30-year economic betrayal dragging down Gen...
by Retric on Monday March 07, 2016 @10:06AM
(#11239254)
I think I found the source of that chart. When we line up all individuals in the world, from the poorest to the richest. http://www.voxeu.org/article/global-income-distribution-1988
So, it says just about nothing about the US income distribution.
PS: I suspect that bump is basically China + India, and the Dip is the US/EU middle class. Yes, outsourcing and free trade is great for other people.
Re:Revealed: the 30-year economic betrayal dragging down Gen...
by yummyfajitas on Monday March 07, 2016 @10:15AM
(#11239303)
What tipped you off, the label on the X-axis?
It's not great for wealthy people who were enjoying economic rents by excluding desperately poor people from the global economy. So what? Do people earning $2,000/year (1/10 of what a poor American consumes) not count?
Re:Revealed: the 30-year economic betrayal dragging down Gen...
by Retric on Monday March 07, 2016 @01:23PM
(#11240469)
Helping the global poor is a great soundbite, but there are plenty of ways to do the same thing without harming the vast majority of Americans.
Of note the rich got a free ride while breaking the US middle class. That's actually bad for long term economic growth. It also entrenched and entrenched authoritarian governments around the world ex: China.
The data you are citing is restricted to a slice of the top 20% of the world. Indians and Chinese (i.e. the bottom 50% or so) don't count?
Also note that you cite data on productivity for the economy as a whole, but hourly compensation only for "production and nonsupervisory workers". That's a weird comparison to make - what if the increase in productivity was caused primarily by people outside this narrow group?