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Regardless, the 60+ age cohort has never been wealthier than it is now.
The wealth held by the 30% at the top of the 60+ age cohort has never been wealthier than it is now.
This allows for mathematical and statistical games with what might apply to the other 70% of the 60+ age cohort.
But it doesn't actually put any cash (or other assets) into the pockets of them.
I'm sorry if this doesn't fit your narrative.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
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^Sorta does. Sometimes.
My sister lives in SJC. Same house for 35 years. She does really want to update the house and does only the minimum to maintain condition. She could move to a cheaper location but then she'll lose the low property tax benefit on her current situation. But moving to a new location will put cash into her pocket which she doesn't need but some others will need that windfall cash.
Ok, I didn't pay attention. But then it's even less trustworthy, see below.
Unfortunately, they invented "leisure adjusted" CPI. That just doesn't work in real life. Comparing actual numbers "now" and "then" is the only way to go. Substitutions are nice to cover up drop in QoL, but doesn't allow comparison "apples to apples".
I would be happy to buy a new house in a good area (i.e. not a ghetto) that has a size of 1970 house, and corresponding price. I'm ok with no GFCI, as I can install them myself for very cheap. Guess how many I can find? Exactly zero. Point being you cannot compare actually available goods with imaginary ones.
And how that relates to average price/wage ratio changes?
LFPR was ~67% in 2000 vs ~60.4 in 1970 (exactly due to the influx of women to workplaces; to be fair, influx started in 1963, not in 1970), but is steady declining since ~2000. Reasons? Here:
For real if the fact people moving to cities and 'burbs from the country does not immediately ring bells in your head about home price changes over similar spans - econ. isn't for you
A home is an asset. Shares of stock in Facebook are an asset. Short term treasuries are an asset. Gold bullion is an asset. Cash stuffed in the proverbial mattress is an asset. That 60-year old gold Rolex is an asset. That 1966 Mustang under a tarp in the barn is an asset.
What matters, of course, is the accumulation of assets over a lifetime. And yes, some of those assets liquid while others are not.
For many that will be true.
For some, they go to sleep never to wake up, having died in the middle of the night from from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), or myocardial infarction (a heart attack) - particularly the "widow maker" variety which entails a blockage of the left anterior descending artery, or carbon monoxide poisoning or a rupture of a cerebral aneurysm or sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome (SUNDS).
When its my time to go, just push me in front of a bus. Others might want to spend every last penny extracting an incremental 90 days of extremely low quality & painful life - which really is just prolonging death.
Regardless, the 60+ age cohort has never been wealthier than it is now. I'm sorry if this doesn't fit your narrative.
The wealth held by the 30% at the top of the 60+ age cohort has never been wealthier than it is now.
This allows for mathematical and statistical games with what might apply to the other 70% of the 60+ age cohort.
But it doesn't actually put any cash (or other assets) into the pockets of them.
I'm sorry if this doesn't fit your narrative.
Even for the bottom 70% his prior statement is still true... The distribution of wealth within the boomer generation is not an issue. The issue is more linked with health care cost (inclusive of medical cost + long term managed care) as well as life expectancy.
The cost of healthcare has grown at 3X CPI for 20 years now and is currently an "issue". The cost is going to create many morality questions about aging and dying gracefully. Things that we have yet to wrap our brains around.
Can you pay your grandparents $10k/month memory care unit bill? Should we spend 75% of the total medical bills in somebody's life around the final stages of life?
Even for the bottom 70% his prior statement is still true... The distribution of wealth within the boomer generation is not an issue. The issue is more linked with health care cost (inclusive of medical cost + long term managed care) as well as life expectancy.
The cost of healthcare has grown at 3X CPI for 20 years now and is currently an "issue". The cost is going to create many morality questions about aging and dying gracefully. Things that we have yet to wrap our brains around.
Can you pay your grandparents $10k/month memory care unit bill? Should we spend 75% of the total medical bills in somebody's life around the final stages of life?
No! If Grandma ends up with Alzheimer's, it might be kinder and certainly cheaper to give her a hefty shot of propofol and take her to the alligator farm. Saves on an expensive funeral too! Grandma was big on "recycling" as well, so now she's one with Nature! The only ones crying will be the greedy nursing home operators. Be sure and have a nice memorial service.
In 1970, minimum wage was $1.60 an hour. Today, it’s $7.25 an hour. That’s a 353% increase over that period of time, which seems like a fair amount… until you actually start looking at how prices have increased. What about average wages? I couldn’t find a document that laid out full details on average wages per year,...
We can sum that up in one word: Moron. Or, if you prefer French: Imbecile.
Would you like to know why he can't find details on average wages per year?
Because he's clueless.
I can tell you what the average wage by year is.
I can also tell you how many people earned what wages by bracket for each year.
People who know what they're talking about can easily locate primary sources of information on wage data and all of it from the US Government.
And, how daft is the moron/imbecile that he doesn't understand Inflation?
There are different forms of Inflation, each with a unique cause and precisely because they have a unique cause, they have unique solutions.
You do understand the meaning of "unique" right?
As everyone with half-a-brain knows, there is a relationship between the Supply of any good, service or resource, and the Demand for that good, service or resource.
As every competent person knows, when the Demand for any good, service or resource exceeds the Supply of that good, service or resource, the price rises.
As every intelligent person knows, that's called Demand-pull Inflation.
Neither the Federal Reserve or any central bank on Earth can do anything about Demand-pull Inflation.
Demand-pull Inflation has a function; a purpose. That function or purpose is to prevent --- do you understand the meaning of "prevent"? Would you like a dictionary link? -- to prevent the over-consumption, over-use or depletion of any good, service or resource.
It's a built-in safety feature.
Given that reality, why would you want to enable the over-consumption, over-use or depletion of any good, service or resource?
How does any economy or any person or any group of people benefit from the over-consumption, over-use or depletion of any good, service or resource?
Well, the short answer is they do not.
If people cannot afford certain goods, services or resources, that's a good thing, because it means those goods, services or resources are being protected from over-consumption, over-use or depletion.
If people cannot afford them, that's sad really, but sucks to be them.
They are not without recourse.
They can stop consuming.
Or, they can seek substitutes.
Or, they can increase Supply, so prices stop rising. Of course, that assumes that Supply can be increased in the first place.
So, increasing wages to meet Demand-pull Inflation is stupid.
The only thing that happens is prices rise higher and faster.
Your response to that is what? Increase wages again? That will only cause prices to rise even faster and higher.
In case you don't get it, this is a game you can never win. Not ever.
Please quit posting garbage like this. Your ignorance is monumental You sound like a sophomore econ student. Demand-pull inflation should be balanced by supply-push deflation. If worker productivity increases 80% and worker wages increase 80%, there is no inflationary pressure from increasing worker wages. Rapidly increasing wages in the late '70s was the result of inflation, not the cause. Workers were unable to bear the brunt of US monetary policy.
You seem to think that an economy is a religion, and fair compensation for labor is sinful. Productivity and wages have diverged for decades. Worker productivity really has increased by 80%, while their wages have been stagnant.
Please quit posting garbage like this. Your ignorance is monumental You sound like a sophomore econ student. Demand-pull inflation should be balanced by supply-push deflation. If worker productivity increases 80% and worker wages increase 80%, there is no inflationary pressure from increasing worker wages. Rapidly increasing wages in the late '70s was the result of inflation, not the cause. Workers were unable to bear the brunt of US monetary policy.
You seem to think that an economy is a religion, and fair compensation for labor is sinful. Productivity and wages have diverged for decades. Worker productivity really has increased by 80%, while their wages have been stagnant.
You know Larry, Mircea's claim that nothing can be done to fight demand-pull inflation is mistaken.
That said what the heck are you talking about?
Your words......"Demand-pull inflation should be balanced by supply-push deflation."
If I'm making an array of widgets and demand is increasing and prices are increasing because my customers will pay more there is zero reason to expect supply side deflation aside from unlikely oddball circumstances like an exceptional productivity breakthrough or maybe a fantastic and favorable change in exchange rates etc. As the widget maker in a high demand increasing price micro-market I would try to increase output in order to maximize profits. In this situation my suppliers would likely attempt to increase output as well but not lower prices. They are in business to maximize profits.
Your 80% and 80% claim is also off target.
Definitionally - think of productivity like this. If I make widgets and due to a no cost improvement in production my output increases 20%............that would equal a 20% increase in productivity.
If I "see" that same 20% uptick (call the 20% $100) in output but I invested a net new $10 in capital investment and $10 more in labor my net output improvement is worth $80 in other words my productivity increase/improvement would be 16%.
An 80% increase in output with an 80% increase in wages = no change in productivity.
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It's pretty in the weeds stuff and maybe I'll fight through it tomorrow. But your implication that productivity/output gains directly offset inflationary pressures from increased wages isn't accurate either.
Even for the bottom 70% his prior statement is still true... The distribution of wealth within the boomer generation is not an issue. The issue is more linked with health care cost (inclusive of medical cost + long term managed care) as well as life expectancy.
The cost of healthcare has grown at 3X CPI for 20 years now and is currently an "issue". The cost is going to create many morality questions about aging and dying gracefully. Things that we have yet to wrap our brains around.
Can you pay your grandparents $10k/month memory care unit bill? Should we spend 75% of the total medical bills in somebody's life around the final stages of life?
Why would you pay their bill? They can. And when they can't, there's Medicaid
Why would you pay their bill? They can. And when they can't, there's Medicaid
Hmm so you’re arguing that the taxpayer should be picking up your nanna’s $10k per month bill?
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