Yeah, you can pick a year of your choice, and find a story like this.

I agree in general but I think the 80s deserve special recognition because it marked a turning point in the relationship between wages and productivity[1][2] and the long decline of collective bargaining[3] at the same time it became even more acceptable to brag about wealth because that linked into the Cold War comparisons we made with the Eastern Bloc countries. A lot of older Americans also didn’t track how much things stood in other countries – e.g. the standard of living in much of Europe relative to people doing the same jobs domestically – but I think a lot of younger people are looking at how many trend lines have a knuckle point in that decade and are feeling cheated.

1. https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/

2. But see also https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2023/03/when-comparing-wages...

3. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/03/12/majoritie...