THE QUESTION
Why is a secure standard of living harder to reach than a generation ago?
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Employment law was written for a job that no longer exists
To be precise: this is about the mechanism, not anyone's motives.
Nothing said yet.
The statistics say the median is fine and the median household disagrees
What used to be a job is now a series of contracts
cluster 3discussing (1)
A household absorbs shocks that used to be absorbed by an institution
Meaning the general pattern, not one case.
Productivity rose and pay stopped following it
Not an accusation: an institution can do this with everyone acting in good faith.
Union membership fell and with it the wage floor for everyone
The measured rate of inflation is not the rate a young family faces
Public services filled part of the gap and were then cut
Not an accusation: an institution can do this with everyone acting in good faith.
Bargaining power moved from labour to capital gradually and completely
A single wage no longer supports a household
Competition policy stopped worrying about labour markets
Credentials inflated because everyone responded to the same signal
Not an accusation: an institution can do this with everyone acting in good faith.
Assets rose faster than wages for four decades
Narrower than it reads — the wider claim is someone else's card.
Two incomes became necessary and childcare ate the second
I mean this as an observation; I would want it tested.
The cost of the essentials rose faster than the basket used to measure inflation
Three employers in a town is not a market for workers
To be precise: this is about the mechanism, not anyone's motives.
Everything that got cheaper is optional and everything essential got dearer
Everything the state stopped doing became a household expense
Inheritance now decides more outcomes than income does
cluster 2discuss
A firm can move production and a worker cannot move country
Meaning the general pattern, not one case.
Anyone without them was priced out of ever holding them
cluster 1discuss
The tax system taxes the wage more than the asset
Narrower than it reads — the wider claim is someone else's card.
cluster 2discuss
Cheap credit substituted for wages for twenty years
The things that used to be bought once are now rented forever
cluster 3discuss
Debt made the fall invisible until it was not
Not an accusation: an institution can do this with everyone acting in good faith.
Nobody has ever added up what was transferred to households
Housing, childcare and health are counted like televisions
Degrees became the entry ticket and the debt came with them
Training is an employer cost, so nobody trains anyone
Scope: the last two decades, not all history.
Interest rates were held low for a decade and asset prices did what follows
Scope: the last two decades, not all history.
Non-compete clauses reach people who earn very little
Narrower than it reads — the wider claim is someone else's card.
Classification as self-employed removes protections without removing dependence
The share of output going to wages fell and nobody decided it
Narrower than it reads — the wider claim is someone else's card.
Anyone holding assets in 2009 has done well without deciding anything
I mean this as an observation; I would want it tested.
cluster 1discuss
Risk was transferred to households and called flexibility
Not an accusation: an institution can do this with everyone acting in good faith.
Employment law was written for a job that no longer exists
To be precise: this is about the mechanism, not anyone's motives.
Pensions moved from a promise by an employer to a bet by an employee
Narrower than it reads — the wider claim is someone else's card.
A skill has a shorter life than a career