Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)ROBERT REICH: The American Dream Has Fallen Apart [View all]
http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-reich-great-uturn-2014-3Do you recall a time in America when the income of a single school teacher or baker or salesman or mechanic was enough to buy a home, have two cars, and raise a family?
I remember. My father (who just celebrated his 100th birthday) earned enough for the rest of us to live comfortably. We werent rich but never felt poor, and our standard of living rose steadily through the 1950s and 1960s.
That used to be the norm. For three decades after World War II, America created the largest middle class the world had ever seen. During those years the earnings of the typical American worker doubled, just as the size of the American economy doubled. (Over the last thirty years, by contrast, the size of the economy doubled again but the earnings of the typical American went nowhere.)
In that earlier period, more than a third of all workers belonged to a trade union giving average workers the bargaining power necessary to get a large and growing share of the large and growing economic pie. (Now, fewer than 7 percent of private-sector workers are unionized.)
Then, CEO pay then averaged about 20 times the pay of their typical worker (now its over 200 times).
Read more: http://robertreich.org/post/78784064729#ixzz2vHC0qXi4
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
61 replies, 10764 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (69)
ReplyReply to this post
61 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
America - An Empire Built On Illusion - That Empire And Illusion Is Crumbling
cantbeserious
Mar 2014
#5
"Mobs in the street, calling for someone's head? I've never seen anything like that."
bemildred
Mar 2014
#37
+1. Plutocrats, really, it's the money, it drives them nuts when they have too much.
bemildred
Mar 2014
#15
It is our economic system that sucks, but it's our political system that sets the rules.
reformist2
Mar 2014
#17
All these years shilling for NAFTA, "free trade"...Reich is a hypocrite or an idiot. Which is it?
Romulox
Mar 2014
#14
One major theme should be that we don't need more jobs, we need better paying ones.
reformist2
Mar 2014
#19
"It can also be understood as the greatest propaganda victory radical conservatism ever won"
n2doc
Mar 2014
#22
You mean the present day treadmill goal of trying to achieve the unachievable goal?
Javaman
Mar 2014
#23
He should know. He was economic advisor to the Prez during repeal of Glass Steagall,
merrily
Mar 2014
#31
I call Oscar Mayer. This thread refers to things like NAFTA, repeal of Glass Steagall
merrily
Mar 2014
#53
"Why didn’t we share the gains from globalization and technological advances more broadly?"
gulliver
Mar 2014
#45