Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
There have been income declines in the lower income brackets periodically, but the overall trend over time is increasing.
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It WAS increasing. Up until 1973. Then ever more and more slowly until 2002. At which point growth stopped and reversed for those USA citizens who make about the 70- 75th percentile or below. The poorer, the more extreme the de-growth. This situation is now entrenched to perpetuate whereby USA working classes will expect to generally drift down to the global average while they drift up. But cost of living is obviously much higher here. The free market only works for the lower percentiles when there is a shortage of labor and hope for the future from strong perpetual growth. Perpetual growth on a finite planet is obviously impossible and globalization has spread the unskilled labor jobs to the cheapest market. What we have achieved in the last 150 years is a direct result of accessing huge amounts of stored fossil energy which will be nearing it's end soon and there is no similar replacement at even a fraction of the scale. GDP, and population are tied to energy almost 1:1. We must start thinking about a totally new economic system which will tollerate de-growth of GDP without obliterating the poor. We have about 35 years of affordable crude oil left to come up with a totally different way.