Charlie, I think the jury is out on the situation for the working class after 1973 ---- The evidence from Piketty and Saez is that the distribution of income became more equal over the course of the 1970s ---- many date the turn away from working class prosperity from about 1977 others from about 1980 ----
THe very Keynesian policies of the Gerald Ford administration in response to the recession of 1975 helped prop up the incomes of working people --- it was probably the most dramatic increase in government deficit spending to combat a recession since World War II --- The upper class saw their marginal tax rates rise dramatically because the inflation of the 1970s pushed them into higher and higher tax brackets ---- The opening gun in the "fight back" of the super-rich was the cut in capital gains taxes in 1978 and the beginnings of deregulation --- Certainly, once we get to the Reagan Administration, the working class is in retreat --- I have always felt financialization is an EFFECT of the stagnation in the US economy rather than a cause --- The "REagan Revolution" succeeded in redistributing income upward but did NOT usher in dramatic growth --- In fact the average rate of growth and average amount of job creation was worse than in the "bad old" 1970s ---- With less productive outlets for accumulated profits, the upper income folks invested in financial instruments --- I believe the 1980s were the decade where mergers and acquisitions started to run wild. On Wed, Nov 13, 2024 at 12:10 PM Charlie via groups.io <charles1848= [email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Nov 13, 2024 at 11:15 AM, hari kumar wrote: > > my temporal marker of the more 'modern era' (it has been superseded now of > course) start of the financialisation > > What is typically called financialization took off from 1980 in the U.S., > as noted. > > The long-term decline in the living standards of the U.S. working class > dates from 1973. Real median weekly earnings peaked then, declined, and > have not recovered. The relative mass prosperity achieved in several > periods before then will never happen again. (This conclusion is argued > from the evidence and the laws of capital accumulation in *The Hollow > Colossus* <http://www.hollowcolossus.com>.) > > Financialization is often given causal "blame" for our plight. But what > began from the 1980s cannot explain what began from 1973. > _._,_._,_ > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#33568): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/33568 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/109543856/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
