Real Wages For Most Falling, Productivity Rising

Of course, GOP political spinmaster Frank Luntz sees voters blaming corporations and not the GOP. Has the Democratic Party failed to link the GOP to large corporations and the ultra-rich?

“The most important contributor to higher profit margins over the past five years has been a decline in labor’s share of national income.” Even for workers at the 90th percentile of earners — making about $80,000 a year — inflation has outpaced their pay increases over the last three years, according to the Labor Department.

“There are two economies out there,” Mr. Cook, the political analyst, said. “One has been just white hot, going great guns. Those are the people who have benefited from globalization, technology, greater productivity and higher corporate earnings.

“And then there’s the working stiffs,’’ he added, “who just don’t feel like they’re getting ahead despite the fact that they’re working very hard. And there are a lot more people in that group than the other group.”

Link from Jim.

Tags: economy, 2006, income, wages, income inequality