But they haven't have they? Median earnings are flat with Q4-2019 levels. Averages are higher because those of us fortunate enough to work in tech or healthcare are experiencing boom times, but for huge swaths of the country, things are looking very bleak. Take-home pay is the same, but the price of groceries and rent has continued to climb without abatement.
Sure - it's a multi-part issue. Deflation is just as bad when wages are flat, though, or even worse. The real value of all this debt Americans have accrued would still be increasing while wages are flat. Deflation also means that businesses are less likely to increase wages - all their debt is in the same boat, and they can argue that by keeping pay the same in a deflationary environment that people are getting de facto pay raises.
Obviously wages being flat isn't good when there is inflation, either - if they don't keep up you end up needing more debt because you can't afford to pay for everything out of your regular wages.
We're barely scratching the surface here, but modern economies have a lot of different cogs that really only turn properly in an inflationary environment. It just needs to be a lot less inflationary than it has been.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q
But they haven't have they? Median earnings are flat with Q4-2019 levels. Averages are higher because those of us fortunate enough to work in tech or healthcare are experiencing boom times, but for huge swaths of the country, things are looking very bleak. Take-home pay is the same, but the price of groceries and rent has continued to climb without abatement.