Comments for The Recession Really Is Not Good at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 5 out of 5 comments http://www.cepr.net Sun, 19 May 2013 07:41:56 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-recession-really-is-not-good#comment-2096 Real wages have stagnated for the bottom 80% for 30 yrs. Further, where are prices falling??? This is delusional. Insurance falling? Electricity? Water? Food? Gas? based on what basis. No, gas isn't $4/gallon, but it shouldn't be as high as it is, based on simple supply and demand. Further, you miss how so much of the stimulus went to big banks, from our pockets, to raise commodities prices, from our pockets. Oh yeah, I know we don't measure the cost rates of the stuff that everyone uses and buys, those are too volatile right. Look at what a substantial % of household budgets spend their money on, those too volatile goods. This is a total absurdity. Have you eaten lunch in a restaurant? Prices there have doubled in 8 yrs. It is nearly impossible to find lunch for $5. The tab at McDonalds has doubled for the same food. But, you probably don't know that. I don't know if you eat in the Faculty Cafeteria or what but you are totally clueless as to what is really happening. Some prices are falling, but these are in non-essential goods/services. What we all use, need is rising precipitously. That comprises nearly all of my budget, I imagine you hardly think about these expenses. - scott Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:40:48 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-recession-really-is-not-good#comment-2058 5% of our workforce is out of work. Thus the demoninator in Wages / Workers has been reduced from about 95% of the workforce to 90% of the workforce. Well, I would be shocked if the laid off 5% were of average or above income levels. If you are retaining the high wage workers, and average wages haven't increased (despite the decrease in the denumerator)... So, wages have fallen (in real terms) or hours worked have fallen enough to offset the low-wage bias in layoffs/job losses. - dcdan Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:31:50 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-recession-really-is-not-good#comment-2052 The real wages of "rank-and-file" (factory) workers since 1914 are plotted here: http://www.skeptometrics.org/WeeklyWages/WeeklyWages.htm For those who still have jobs the fact that wages are not declining is (relatively) good, but it indicates that employment choices may have been extending unemployment (better if they had cut hours rather than employees, as Dean has suggested). Leonhardt's comparison with the recessions of the 70's and 80's is silly because wages were steeply declining during the whole 20-year period from the early 70's to the early 90's, not just during recessions. Wages are doing better now than during that period, but that's not saying much. The decline during that period was not due to inflation - there was also inflation during the 40's and 50's. Real wages declined steeply during the years 1929-1933 despite deflation, contrary to what Leonhardt seems to think. - skeptonomist Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:18:08 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-recession-really-is-not-good#comment-2051 Thanks Dean. I was puzzled about what Leonhardt said about wage growth. You explanation of the older workforce was also helpful. - Mark Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:56:42 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-recession-really-is-not-good#comment-2047 Recessions are like Calvinist religion, they're good for you because they're bad for you. Just because things aren't going well doesn't mean it's not your fault. It is. You caused it by some past action, and not paying for it later is like stealing from others to subsidize a greedy life of overconsumption. Think of the deep recession as a colon cleaning treatment inspired by divine intervention, ridding the economy of waste and inefficiency built up and pushed forward by overeating during the bubble. It has to go somewhere, and far wiser to deal with the lumps now than allow constipation to choke off new growth and recovery. Wages aren't really stagnant. The problem is overconsumption. Take an enema and get over it. - izzatzo Wed, 11 Aug 2010 02:02:28 +0100