This is a ridiculous argument and, honestly, reminds me of corporate thinking. Is the line going up this quarter? That’s all that matters. Yes, assuming inflation is CPI, the last year has seen wage growth. For two years before that, it showed an even more severe wage decline. It seems a bit out of touch to say “Hey, look, I know your savings are dry and your spouse dropped out of the work force because childcare costs outpaced their income but it’s starting to get better! If we use this particular method to examine your well-being the last year was back to normal so quit whing and be grateful!”
The first article linked is alleged to demonstrate that wages have exceeded inflation for over a year. That article includes text like this after this graph:
if we look at the fourth quarter of 2019, which was the last quarter before COVID, the real wage is $362. Now nearly four years later, it sits only $3 higher at $365. Four years of zero wage growth is also something that could perhaps bother people.
So instead they looked at a longitudinal study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, which assumes CPI is the rate of inflation. They ended up with this CPI adjusted wage growth graph.. Even with their metric it shows wage growth being in the red from early 2021 and not recovering until 2023.
The previous guy in office drove up the debt and gave tax cuts to the very wealthy. Climate change is ruining crops. Russians are hampering Ukraine from producing grain. Fungus ruined a lot of of the cocoa crop. Bird flu has hit the poultry industry. Corporate greed is rampant. Still, eggs at $3 a dozen make 6 meals. Avocados are still $1 a piece on sale. Lay off the prime rib and filet mignon, you will be fine.
For me my everyday prices have doubled but my wage has not. I don't know whos wage it is that is keeping up with inflation. Oh wait is that the one where they cut out all the purchases people have to make everyday?
I mix up words a lot, but you know. my profile stuff. go far enough and you might find one of mine that mentions the issues we have with inflation go back to when the obama erra interest rate increases where not kept up and indeed were completely reversed. that caused the super heated market and such.
We have an over emphasis on finance in our system. After off shoring everything for decades we got cheaper goods for a while and with the dollar as the world’s currency we got to export a lot of our inflation. On the shorter time frame we’ve pumped a ton of money into the system. The powers that be could’ve put that money to work building out manufacturing instead the money went into assets and now stocks and houses are really expensive. So basic inflation is going on too much money chasing too few goods and it is because the big inflation has been going on in assets. And the deflation from technology has about run its course, everyone has a smart phone and a flat screen TV.
This is the end result of 40+ years of pushing the tax burden onto the middle class all in a massive transfer of wealth from the public to the private. The elites have captured the political system to benefit themselves and the rest of us just watch as our institutions are slowly dismantled. Meanwhile what are we investing in actually building? Infrastructure… not really. Better social safety nets… hell no. We are investing in making more weapons… because this is what happens when a small group of elites has too much control in a system we the little guys end up fighting their stupid wars.
I got a “raise” this year but it was half of the rate of inflation. This has happened several years in a row. My numbers get bigger but my money does less. Overall my income is less than when I started even though it looks like more, and I feel like I’m going crazy when everyone around me is happy with the same wage increases.
yeah I have been passively looking for a job that will pay what I was getting in 2021 as far as the cost of goods goes and so far most things end when I give my wage requirements.
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