On Mar 5, 2007, at 3:58 PM, andie nachgeborenen wrote:
> GDP per
> capita has doubtless grown over a generation, but
> (check me on this, Doug) my understanding is that real
> wages are flat or down, while inequality has grown a
> great deal.
Real cumulative change, 1973-2005
GDP per capita 73.6% median household income 15.8% average hourly wage -11.3%
Almost all the gain in median household income happened between 1993 and 1999. Gains of the late 1980s were mostly undone in the early 1990s. About a third of the 1993-99 gains were undone between 2000 and 2004.
Incomes of the poorest quintile rose 10% between 1973 and 2005; for the richest 5%, they were up 78%.
Doug