There is a very interesting analysis in the BBC by Steve Schifferes, "The end of American Dream?"
The article, based on recent research by the Economic Policy Institute, brings out a series of very interesting statistics about how the US economy during the Bush administration stacks up against the Clinton administration.
1. During the five years from 2000 to 2005, the US economy grew in size from $9.8 trillion to $11.2 trillion, an increase in real terms of 14%. Productivity - the measure of the output of the economy per worker employed - grew even more strongly, by 16.6%. But over the same period, the median family's income slid by 2.9%, in contrast to the 11.3% gain registered in the second half of the 1990s. The wages of households of African or Hispanic origin fell even faster. And new entrants to the labour market fared particularly badly.
2. Average hourly real wages for both college and high school graduates actually fell between 2000 and 2005, and fewer of the jobs they found carried benefits such as health care or company pensions.
3. The incomes of the top 20% have grown much faster than earnings of those at the middle or bottom of the income distribution. The income of the top 1% and top 0.1% have grown particularly rapidly. From 1992 to 2005, the pay of chief executive officers of major companies rose by 186%. The equivalent figure for median hourly wages was 7.2%, leaving the ratio of CEOs' pay to that of the average worker at 262. In the 1960s, the comparable figure was 24.
4. For real household incomes, the median point - the level at which half of households earn more and half less - has actually fallen over the past five years. That marks a notable contrast with the 1990s, when the economic boom boosted both jobs and incomes.
5. The share of income distributed between profits and wages becoame more skewed. The share of corporate profits increased sharply, from 17.7% in 2000 to 20.9% in 2005, while the share going to wages has reached a record low.
6. Overall job growth in the first half of the current decade has been just 1.3%, compared to 12% in the 1990s.
1 comment:
There are some more interesting comparisons, thanks to Paul Krugman in the NYT(10th September 2007). More than half the benefits of the capital gains and dividend tax cuts of George Bush in 2003 went to failies with annual incomes more than $ 1 million. Bill Clinton hasd in the early part of his first term, raised taxes on the rich. The results of the two are contrasting.
The four years after the Bush tax cuts, it is claimed that 8 million jobs have been created, whereas in the aftermath of the Clinton tax raises, 21 million jobs were created. The Bush era four years have produced no gains for American workers - wages have stagnated, benefits have deteriorated. Corporate profits rose 72% from Q2 of 2003 to the Q2 of 2007. The real income of the richest 0.1% of Americans rose 51% in the 2003-05 period, and continues to grow.
Post a Comment