As the author states, it is "truly stupendous". I think this stands out as a very useful illustration. It can be easy to complacently accept how much of an impact this kind of effect has on...
How it’s been working out here in the UK is the longest period of declining real incomes in recorded economic history. ‘Recorded economic history’ means as far back as current techniques can reach, which is back to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Worse than the decades that followed the Napoleonic Wars, worse than the crises that followed them, worse than the financial crises that inspired Marx, worse than the Depression, worse than both world wars. That is a truly stupendous statistic and if you knew nothing about the economy, sociology or politics of a country, and were told that single fact about it – that real incomes had been falling for the longest period ever – you would expect serious convulsions in its national life.
As the author states, it is "truly stupendous". I think this stands out as a very useful illustration. It can be easy to complacently accept how much of an impact this kind of effect has on society because many people have enough of a buffer, live comfortably enough (marginally), and are willing to accept endless amounts of work in exchange for very little. When a perspective like this is offered, it really should give people pause. The crazy thing is that even this sort of perspective is often insufficient for many.
Life expectancy in the United States is also falling, with the first consecutive-year drop since 1962-63; infant mortality, the generally accepted benchmark for a society’s development, is rising too. The principal driver of the decline in life expectancy seems to be the opioid epidemic, which took 64,000 lives in 2016, many more than guns (39,000), cars (40,000) or breast cancer (41,000). At the same time, the income of the typical worker, the real median hourly income, is about the same as it was in 1971. Anyone time-travelling back to the early 1970s would have great difficulty explaining why the richest and most powerful country in the history of the world had four and a half decades without pandemic, countrywide disaster or world war, accompanied by unprecedented growth in corporate profits, and yet ordinary people’s pay remained the same. I think people would react with amazement and want to know why. Things have been getting consistently better for the ordinary worker, they would say, so why is that process about to stop?
I honestly wish my parents could retire comfortably. It seems like they are going to work themselves literally to death. That thought is pretty unbearable for me. As for myself and pretty much everyone else I know personally, there seems to be very little hope of ever being able to scratch our way out. I've had a number of episodes of depression that were driven by that hopelessness over the past 10 years, often debilitating, bordering on suicidal, and I know I'm not unique in that reaction.
It would be easier to accept all this, philosophically anyway, if since the crash we had made some progress towards reform in the operation of the banking system and international finance.
That's all I can hope for at this point. People aren't unwilling to put in hard work. But it's all for nothing unless something is done to address the root of the problem.
If anyone reading this hasn't gone through the article yet, it's fantastic and well worth the read.
I agree, a well written article, and very concerning questions about the future of many (especially the young) people in our culture and economy are examined.
I agree, a well written article, and very concerning questions about the future of many (especially the young) people in our culture and economy are examined.
As the author states, it is "truly stupendous". I think this stands out as a very useful illustration. It can be easy to complacently accept how much of an impact this kind of effect has on society because many people have enough of a buffer, live comfortably enough (marginally), and are willing to accept endless amounts of work in exchange for very little. When a perspective like this is offered, it really should give people pause. The crazy thing is that even this sort of perspective is often insufficient for many.
I honestly wish my parents could retire comfortably. It seems like they are going to work themselves literally to death. That thought is pretty unbearable for me. As for myself and pretty much everyone else I know personally, there seems to be very little hope of ever being able to scratch our way out. I've had a number of episodes of depression that were driven by that hopelessness over the past 10 years, often debilitating, bordering on suicidal, and I know I'm not unique in that reaction.
That's all I can hope for at this point. People aren't unwilling to put in hard work. But it's all for nothing unless something is done to address the root of the problem.
If anyone reading this hasn't gone through the article yet, it's fantastic and well worth the read.
I agree, a well written article, and very concerning questions about the future of many (especially the young) people in our culture and economy are examined.