Seth
Max Sawicky wrote:
> The issue of fringes is treated in State of Working America,
> EPI's flagship publication. There may be some stats on our
> web site as well, for those interested.
>
> I can't figure out whom I like less -- Stossel or David Horowitz.
>
> mbs
>
> . . .
> -- In order to refute the only on-camera source who is given significant
> time to disagree with his thesis--progressive talkshow host Jim
> Hightower--Stossel claims that "the Federal Reserve's wage data that's
> often
> cited doesn't count things like commissions salespeople make, retirement
> contributions, medical insurance. When you include them, average American
> compensation's risen 20 percent."
>
> This statement contains multiple inaccuracies. First, the Federal Reserve
> does not collect wage data. The "often cited" wage data Stossel apparently
> has in mind--showing that wages for ordinary workers have fallen--come
> from
> the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data Stossel cites
> purporting to show that compensation has "risen 20 percent"--he does not
> say
> since when--most likely come from the Commerce Department's National
> Income
> and Product Accounts (NIPA).
>
> The NIPA data measure the total amount of compensation--including payroll
> taxes, health, pension, and other non-wage benefits--earned in the economy
> as a whole. While that figure can be divided by the total number of
> workers
> to obtain a statistical average, this cannot be used as a gauge of
> ordinary
> worker's compensation, since the average is inflated by very high salaries
> and benefits for a small number of top-paid workers.
> . . .