
Politicians caused a pay ‘collapse’ for the bottom 90 percent, researchers say - WalterSear
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/17/politicians-have-deliberately-eroded-workers-power-resulting-collapse-pay-bottom-percent-researchers-say
======
CryptoPunk
[https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/economic-policy-
in...](https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/economic-policy-institute/)

>>Labor unions provided over $1.6 million to EPI in their 2015 fiscal years.
The top union funders include the American Federation of Teachers; National
Education Association; American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME); Service Employees International Union (SEIU); the AFL-CIO;
the United Auto Workers National Capital Council; and the United Steelworkers,
which each provided at least $100,000 to EPI.[18]

It's no surprise the EPI report concludes that the cause of wage stagnation is
politicians "weakening unions" (lightening restrictions that prevent people
from contracting freely).

In reality, restrictions imposed from the 1930s through to the 1950s, to
strengthen unions, have played a major role in reducing the growth of the
industrial sector and the high-paying jobs that come with it. These anti-free-
market laws are what created the structural forces that led to a large part of
the entire manufacturing supply chain being outsourced.

Also, the WP's writers and editors are unionized, and benefit from these
restrictive laws.

------
kevin_b_er
This is the standard of Trickle-Down Economics. The goal is to concentrate
money at the top and permit a small portion to trickle down.

~~~
manfredo
Interestingly, the US States with the highest levels of inequality often have
some of the most progressive taxation and government policies. New York and
Connecticut at the top. Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming at the bottom:
[https://www.zippia.com/advice/states-highest-lowest-
income-i...](https://www.zippia.com/advice/states-highest-lowest-income-
inequality/)

~~~
BoiledCabbage
I haven't dug into your stats, but Alaska has the 46th smallest economy and
Wyoming the 49th. They don't really have enough of an economy by US standards
to have high wealth disparity.

New York is #3.

Connecticut is and exception at #23, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of
it is finance commuters from Wall St. In New York.

While there are exceptions, that list seems to correlate pretty well with the
list of states ranked by GDP.

While probably intentionally non committal, I think your post is still a bit
misleading.

~~~
manfredo
You are indeed correct that inequality is correlated with GDP. But
interestingly, it's also correlated with median GDP per capita (Connecticut is
#1 there iirc). Basically, it counters the assumption that "higher inequality
== worse condition for the average folk". I saw a graph that plotted both
together, I'll see if I can dig it up.

~~~
mcguire
"Median GDP per capita?"

Do you mean median income?

------
8bitsrule
1979 was followed by what Bush 1 termed 'Voodoo economics'. So yah, the
'teflon president' led the way.

~~~
charlesism
[https://youtu.be/s7VD8kjqzpU](https://youtu.be/s7VD8kjqzpU)

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chrisco255
How is there no mention of globalization whatsoever, as a contributing factor?

~~~
philipkglass
The original report cites trade effects.

"Finally, economic theory and evidence clearly indicates that growing trade
with low-wage countries should boost wage inequality in the United States and
lower wages for workers without a four-year college degree. This type of trade
grew significantly since the 1970s. Imports from low-wage countries were equal
to 0.7 percent of U.S. GDP in 1973, but 6.3 percent in 2016."

From the original by the Economic Policy Institute here:

[https://www.epi.org/publication/what-labor-market-changes-
ha...](https://www.epi.org/publication/what-labor-market-changes-have-
generated-inequality-and-wage-suppression-employer-power-is-significant-but-
largely-constant-whereas-workers-power-has-been-eroded-by-policy-actions/)

This part of the WaPo article seems at odds with that original report:

"While many economists pin much of the blame for wage stagnation on impersonal
market forces, such as free trade and technological change, EPI’s Josh Bivens
and Heidi Shierholz contend that specific policy decisions — including efforts
to weaken unions, the decay of the minimum wage and monetary policy that
prioritizes low inflation over full employment — are responsible for tilting
the balance of power away from workers and toward their employers."

That sentence implies that the EPI report excludes trade as a cause but the
EPI report does no such thing, even if it doesn't highlight trade first and
foremost.

------
known
Sounds like
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_money](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_money)

