Anonymous #3 1w

*works

1

Anonymous #3 1w

The dow has risen much faster than inflation

1

Anonymous #2 1w

Groceries have gotten cheaper relative to both inflation and median income. Rent has risen slightly compared to general inflation but is pretty stable in comparison with income.

-1

Anonymous OP 1w

It beats the consumer price index by quite a lot, but it doesn’t actually beat inflation by that much. They are easy to confuse but they aren’t the same.

1

Anonymous OP 1w

Is this a joke? How is this data useful in any way to describe a correlation between cost of living and the Dow Jones Industrial Average? And it’s using a comparison to conditions over 100 years ago?

4

Anonymous #3 1w

CPI is a measure of inflation, the dow significantly outpaces other measures like PCE too.

1

Anonymous #2 1w

It gives you some concrete numbers to show how the cost of living has fallen over the last century.

1

Anonymous OP 1w

No, CPI is a measure of the change in prices. Actual inflation is more complicated, it’s the change in total value in relation to the change in the money supply.

1

Anonymous #2 1w

Theres no objective way to measure cost of living, but median incomes have significantly outpaced inflation over the same period the dow has existed.

1

Anonymous OP 1w

In the last 10 years CPI is up like 40%, total money supply has over doubled

1

Anonymous #3 1w

Inflation is the change in the average price. It’s determined by the change in economic output in relation to the money supply, but it isn’t the money supply itself. Just because the money supply has doubled doesn’t mean inflation has because economic output has also increased.

1

Anonymous OP 1w

That’s about as useful to me, someone who wasn’t even alive for 9/11, as comparing the cost of living between the Medieval period and now. I mean, I guess I’m better off as a whole than a Medieval serf or a 1920s meat canning worker. But that completely disregards the stagnation in wages, skyrocketing property/rent prices, and price gouging that we’ve seen over the course of the last 20 years, and especially in the last 6 years.

1

Anonymous #2 1w

Median income is at all time highs according to the most recent available data. There has been no stagnation over the last 20 years, 6 years, or any other time period. Its a popular talking point but its objectively and measurably not true.

1

Anonymous OP 1w

Factoring in worker productivity suggests otherwise. Americans are not being fairly compensated for increased work. In other words, wages are stagnating. https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2023/03/when-comparing-wages-and-worker-productivity-the-price-measure-matters/

1

Anonymous #2 1w

Productivity does not mean increased work. If a new Microsoft excel update helps you be more productive, the change is the tools, not you. The average worker is working less in terms of time than ever before. We should also mention that total compensation has kept pace with productivity gains, regardless of where those gains come from. Even without any of that, the point still stands that the median American is earning more than ever.

1

Anonymous OP 1w

The whole idea of a wage is that you’re compensated for producing value to a company. Workers aren’t receiving a fair increase in compensation versus the amount they produce. And working hours aren’t less than ever before, they’ve remained relatively consistent over the last 10 years (minus recessions). Also, before I address your point, I’d like you to provide data that isn’t sourced from the Heritage Foundation. Not a dig at you, but that’s not a reliable source for obvious reasons.

1

Anonymous #2 1w

First let’s acknowledge that the goalposts have shifted way past the objectively false “wages have stagnated” claim. Productivity gains have largely come from higher quality tools. I don’t think it’s logical to say that if your company gets faster wifi that increases productivity, you must get paid more for the productivity gains the wifi creates.

1