Thursday, February 25, 2016

Wages Stopped Going Up in January, 1974

I've mentioned that before. I read it several years ago, then figured it myself. If wages had been going up at the same rate as they had been in the 1950's, the average salary would be about 100,000 a year.

Then Captain Capitalism same to the same conclusion.

This is one of the main reasons - and there are others - why I say both parties have been crapping all over this country for 40 years.

When I was in high school those who graduated could go straight to the steel mill. The starting pay was about $25,000 a year and if they stayed there they could make about $70,000 a year. With a high school diploma. These days, the mill is on the verge of being closed, which means my hometown (which has already lost 20% of its population since I graduated) will be devastated.

When I was 11 years old my father rented a two-story farmhouse with a basement with those big stone walls. Know what the rent was?

$65 a month. That was in 1967. And in that year my father bought a brand-new VW bug for $1600.

That's impossible today, because of inflation. And who causes inflation? The federal government.

My last year and a half in college I rented an apartment for $175 a month, drove a school bus and delivered pizzas. I had a used car (with insurance), my own phone, bought all my food and clothes - and still saved money.

Try that today.

And then the sonsofbitches and court-jester economists lie to us and say that exporting high-paying jobs and importing Chinese trinkets is good for the economy. And that importing criminal morons is a good thing, too.

People with IQs of 100 or less (which is half the country) are supposed to "retrain for higher-paying jobs" (which don't exist for them). No wonder there are adults working at fast-food places (it used to be adults were turned down at such places as being "overqualifed").

No wonder Trump is so popular. People have finally wised up to the fact that neither party is going to do anything for them - except piss on them and tell them it's raining lemonade.

9 comments:

sth_txs said...

The time line also coincides nicely when Nixon ended what was left of a gold standard from the Bretton Woods agreement. Been downhill even faster ever since. I was not around then, but most of this decline seemed to have started in the 1960's.

I can't say I would want to be stuck driving a VW bug. Cars today are certainly better but they have become outrageous in price. Toyota Corolla used to be a reasonably priced working mans' car. Ditto for some of the small trucks. Thanks to inflation and more asinine 'safety' mandates from uncle, these cars are getting pricey. Forget about offering a 90's Geo Metro or Ford Festiva.

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/01/nick-giambruno/watch-petrodollar/

Black Poison Soul said...

When I was young, in New Zealand, a house cost $30-40k. The average wage was something like $10k.

These days, where I live, you'll be lucky to buy a house for under $400k. The average wage has not gone up to $100k, it's roughly $55k.

Backwards indeed.

Carnivore said...

It's interesting to do these comparisons using an inflation calculator, for example http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ and there are tons more online. Even though the CPI has become increasingly rigged in the government's favor, the calculator still shows how much has been stolen from we the sheeple.

In the late 70's while in college, I was working as a security guard making $8 and hour. That would be $26 today, but similar positions are only making $14 an hour today.

Speaking of college, back then I was paying (via loans) around $4000 a year at a big name university. Today, that would be around $13,000. The actual tuition is around $60,000 today.

And you don't have to go back that far. In 1997, my property tax was about $1100 per year. That should be around $1600 per year today, while the actual bill is around $5000.

Unknown said...

"I can't say I would want to be stuck driving a VW bug"

In '67 cars didn't even have A/C and the Bug was a fine car.

MarkyMark said...

sth_txs,

Having a gold based money would NOT stop the gov't from debauching the currency; all it would do is change the METHODS EMPLOYED. We can look to history for proof of this. Let's look at ancient Rome, shall we?

Back in Roman times, copper was a precious metal. It was used to make their money, which was called the As. After decades of foreign adventurism, social programs, etc. (sound familiar?), they needed a way to PAY for all of that. What did they do? Well, they HALVED THE COPPER CONTENT in the As! If we were to use gold and silver (either to back our money or to make it in the form of gold and silver coins), then the gold and silver content could and would be reduced-just as they did in ancient Rome...

sth_txs said...

MarkyMark, you are right.

But throughout the 19th century we had mostly free market in currency with wartime exceptions. That seems to be one of the keys to this is a free market in currency or money, but Americans are too dumbed down to get it.

Money is too important to be left to the whims of a government.

Carnivore said...

@MM, US government did the same 50 years ago. The Kennedy half dollar, as first minted in 1964, has a 90% silver content. In 1965, the silver content was removed from all coins except the Kennedy half dollar which was reduced to 40% silver. That lasted up to 1970. Starting in 1971, the silver content was completely removed.

Even the government admits the fraud today. A freshly minted Gold Eagle has a denomination of $50 and presumably is legal tender for that amount even though you have to pay a dealer over $1200 to buy one.

Unknown said...

There was a story on the local news about how millennials were more often to live with their parents now, rent and not own, and don't seem to have any incentive to work.

Many theories explained and not one mentioned inflation, illegal immigration, or the lack of wages going up. It was more thinking millennials are lazy sort of thing. Well if you only make so much with few options and everything costs and arm and a leg...what are they supposed to do?

Anonymous said...


@Bob, do you live in IL?:

More than 1,600 mass layoffs in Illinois last month:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-illinois-mass-layoffs-february-0305-biz-20160304-story.html