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Economics
The Have-nots Are Making Progress
The Haves are still winning, though
Wages are up, obviously, but they’re rising faster for some than for others.
Usually, I’d follow that sentence with a passionate rant against income inequality, but right now, wages are actually rising faster for the right people.
I know, I couldn’t believe it, either.
In the Dec. 30, 2022, Wall Street Journal, economics commentator Greg Ip notes that the hourly wages are up 15 percent for the managers and 17 percent for the managed. I’m paraphrasing, of course, and how you define these things matter, so click that link and dig in.
Inequality really does appear to be improving a bit, and this, I think, explains two contradictory trends.
First, conservatives complain that “nobody wants to work” because poorly paid service jobs are going unfilled. Second, when you ask someone who says that if they know anybody of working age who is not working, they usually can’t name anybody. Not a single person.
Where are these people who don’t want to work?
Hint: They’re working.
