A brisk rise in American wages (1 Viewer)

[Goobieman]

A brisk rise in American wages
Pay rose faster than the cost of living for the first time in years.
By Mark Trumbull | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

American paychecks are rising again at a pace not seen since the 1990s.
The pay increase amounts to 4 percent on average over the past 12 months, and it comes at a very helpful time for millions of households.

For three years, pay increases haven't kept pace with the rising cost of living. Then came this year's housing slowdown, which has further squeezed family finances.

Those setbacks, however, are now being offset by rising income. Four percent may not sound like much, but you have to look back to 1997 to find a calendar year with a gain that big.

Equally significant, tamer energy prices mean that the "real" wage gains, after inflation, are above 3 percent for the past 12 months. That, too, hasn't happened since the 1990s, even though the economy has been expanding over the past five years

A brisk rise in American wages | csmonitor.com

And how will the leftists/Bush haters respond?

The Bush economy sucks!!
The Bush economy sucks!!

keep repeating it guys -- maybe someday you'll actually believe it.

 

[ShamMol]

Please find a source besides CSmonitor, because you and I both know that it is not even close to an unbiased source -- try CNN or Fox's websites and I would accept that. This article also belies the inherent nature of week-to-week living that is present in society. That, in my view, is one thing that we have to fix and the increase in wages does not address that.

 

[Kandahar]

A brisk rise in American wages | csmonitor.com

And how will the leftists/Bush haters respond?

The Bush economy sucks!!
The Bush economy sucks!!

keep repeating it guys -- maybe someday you'll actually believe it.

Oh come on, you're smarter than this. Using a one year rise in wages as evidence of a strong economy is no different than saying "The stock market was down today, so it must be Bush's fault."

In some ways our long-term economic prospects look good: Deregulation, globalization, immigration, incentives to produce. In other ways our long-term economic prospects look bad: Education, deficit spending, entitlement spending, social mobility.

The overall picture is mixed. But the economy is too complex a beast to be reduced to "the economy is great because wages rose this year." And I suspect you know that.

 

[Kandahar]

Please find a source besides CSmonitor, because you and I both know that it is not even close to an unbiased source -- try CNN or Fox's websites and I would accept that.

CS Monitor always seemed fairly reliable to me. What's wrong with it?

 

[Goobieman]

Oh come on, you're smarter than this. Using a one year rise in wages as evidence of a strong economy is no different than saying "The stock market was down today, so it must be Bush's fault."

In some ways our long-term economic prospects look good: Deregulation, globalization, immigration, incentives to produce. In other ways our long-term economic prospects look bad: Education, deficit spending, entitlement spending, social mobility.

The overall picture is mixed. But the economy is too complex a beast to be reduced to "the economy is great because wages rose this year." And I suspect you know that.

Stagnant/declining wages argument was of the few arguments the "Bush Economy Sucks!" people had left.

The point here is they don't have that any more.

 

[hipsterdufus]

A brisk rise in American wages | csmonitor.com

And how will the leftists/Bush haters respond?

The Bush economy sucks!!
The Bush economy sucks!!

keep repeating it guys -- maybe someday you'll actually believe it.

Bill Gates and I have an average Net Worth of $20 Billion.
Corporate CEO's earn an average of 470 times the average worker , compared to 20 - 40 times in most industrialized nations.

The big winners here are the top 1% - as usual.

 

[Goobieman]

Bill Gates and I have an average Net Worth of $20 Billion.
Corporate CEO's earn an average of 470 times the average worker , compared to 20 - 40 times in most industrialized nations.

The big winners here are the top 1% - as usual.

Jealous much?

If not, then tell me how your response here is relevant...

 

[PeteEU]

nice, so when will real wages catch up with inflation for that last 5 plus years? Or is this another feel good happy thing like the "DOW is at an all time record high" thing, when in acutal fact it aint?

 

[Kandahar]

Stagnant/declining wages argument was of the few arguments the "Bush Economy Sucks!" people had left.

The point here is they don't have that any more.

The economy can't be classified into neat timelines called the "Bush economy" and "Clinton economy" and "Fillmore economy." It is a continuum. And on the whole, our long-term economic picture has gotten worse since 2000, as a result of deficit spending and a failure to address bloated federal entitlements.

 

[hipsterdufus]

Jealous much?

If not, then tell me how your response here is relevant...

The pay increase amounts to 4 percent on average

Because the key word in your report is AVERAGE
It's misleading.

 

[ALiberalModerate]

The economy can't be classified into neat timelines called the "Bush economy" and "Clinton economy" and "Fillmore economy." It is a continuum. And on the whole, our long-term economic picture has gotten worse since 2000, as a result of deficit spending and a failure to address bloated federal entitlements.

Exactly. Even more so, consumer debt is through the roof. More so than ever before, a big chunk of our GDP growth over the past few years has been financed out of consumer and public borrowing. Not really a sustainable model in the long run. Of course the government really cant do anything about personal debt, but it could have certainly done a better job on the public side of the equation.