[lbo-talk] the conservative mind

[Doug Henwood]

Jeffrey Fisher wrote:

>well, this is the thing i don't get. how is will allowed to get away 
>this? if we say it enough times, loud enough, it will be true? is it 
>just that everyone wants to believe it? or is it precisely because 
>the focus is on profits? are profits during this expansion better 
>than the clinton-era boom? are they even comparable? according to 
>what measures?

Profitability (profits/value of the capital stock) was higher at the 
peak of the 1990s boom; it peaked in 1997 (well ahead of the economy 
and the stock market, interestingly enough) and started falling, and 
took a steep dive into 2001-2002. But the recovery over the last 3-4 
years has been stunning, and profitability has regained about 3/4 of 
its slide. Growth in profits has been phenomenal - about 4-5 times as 
much (in percentage terms) as total wage growth (total meaning wages 
times employment, not just the hourly wage), the biggest disparity in 
that measure of any post-WW2 bizcycle.

Doug