If 2+2= 3 then false
If 2+2= 5 then false
If 2+2= 4 then true
Explained below the fold.
Example a.) The minimum wage is worth 3/4 what is was in 1967
The last four columns are where to look.
Notice that although the value of the minimum wage which sets the floor for labor costs goes up briefly in the 90's, in this example relative to 2005 it is down in value 11.8% since 2000 and 25.7% since 1967.
Example b.) The middle class base of wage earners
Even at $20 = labor+benefit 20*40*52=41200
We could assume $41200 is the average income, but it is deceiving to do so. Rather, let's consider these people the third fifth of income averages.
Upon further examination you will see there is relatively little growth from 1973 to 2005, although we can clearly see the period of decline.
Example c.) Over the last 30 yrs fewer people get paid minimum wage salaries
From 1967 - 2005 the ratio of hourly wage earners to minimum wage earners fell. You may believe that people earn more because of this. They do not.
Example d.) Then why have only the top 20% of family incomes grown in the last 40 years?
For the lower 80% of American families over the last 40 years
2 + 2 = 3
If 2 + 2 = 3 for 4/5ths of America
then
Modern day blacklists
Modern day Reaganvilles
For the top 20% of income earners 2 + 2 = 5
Only the top 20% have seen any growth in their brackets average wealth in the last 30 years. As you climb from the top 20% to the top 15% to the top 1% the numbers rise exponentially.
It should be emphasized that the top 20% of families earn 48% of the total share of family income. The top 20% of families earn more total income than the bottom 60% does combined.
More evidence of the disorder of 2 + 2 sometimes adding up to 5
If division of the product of labor and capital is the division of profit and
The bottom 80% of incomes are not growing but decreasing in value
Only the top 20% of incomes are growing
While the top 1% of incomes expands exponentially
Then 2 + 2 = 3
and some other times
2 + 2 = 5
Which is obviously false, unless you would like me to believe that the world is flat and I should not believe in evolution.
Not all of the top 1/5 of America are responsible for what the state of affairs over the last 40 years. Things are always just slowly progressing. Things could be better, but still, they are not half bad, not for the people on the margin of the top 20%. These people don't personally finance junkets, they are not the butler and chauffeur crowd, but they are not exactly oppressed either.
As you get higher up though
and finally
and contrast that to the rest of our
So how do we get 2 + 2 to equal 4 again?
By moving the country
to the left
to Prosecute Bush/Cheney and restore the Bill of Rights
even if we have to do it ourselves
So, who is coming with us?
You are already with us
We are you. We are with you. You are with us. We should all fight as one.
Didn't you hear, we are all populists now.
Join us for the once in a lifetime chance to all get together and know we moved the world.
The Bail Out The People Movement
National March on Wall St. Friday April 3rd and Saturday Apr 4th
bailoutpeople@safewebmail.com
E-mail this to your friends, especially your Republican friends. They say they know economics. Let's see if they can do basic math
Statistics supplied by
Economic Policy Institute