patrick.net

two people do the same job..

one is single and the other married with two kids..

the married worker needs more wages to spend and thus requires higher "living wage"

do you therefore underpay the single worker, and overpay the married worker

for equal skills and tasks they perform.

do you want the employer to poke around your personal life if you actually have kids and you are required to disclose all your spending to justify your higher wages.

and what happens when your kids leave your home or you go through a divorce, does your 'living wage" adjust downward due to lower spending requirements.

and who decides all this ? isnt this all what we call a "centralized planed" economy anyway ?

Yea, socialism and communism always fail, but history proves nothing to the liberal mind.

When demand for your type of work exceeds supply of labor for that work in your given locale. Same as housing.

married worker can work two jobs... or perhaps the spouse works as well. Domestic status has nothing to do with it.

What I'm getting at is

Inflation is underreported.
http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

And even using inflation, wages have barley budged

http://thecurrentmoment.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/productivity-and-real-wages.jpg

As far as demand go... the labor pool is large given the large number of unemployed / underemployed. So I don't see wages going up any time soon for most fields.

Projecting forward... when the next downturn hits (and inevitability there will be one) is there a straw that breaks the preverbal camels back? What (if anything) is the catalyst that will result in real wage growth for the middle class?

When the cronies controlling the government stop stealing from the workers and other market participants by taxation and inflation. During inflation, those who get the newly printed money first get to spend the money against previous prices, at the expense of the people who get the money later who would have to spend against new prices incorporating the effect of inflation.

Wow taxation is to blame for stagnant wages? Our taxes are so historically low this is a hilarious statement.

When do wages go up? They don't. Machines and dirt-poor folks overseas can do most jobs for far less.

Vaticanus says

When demand for your type of work exceeds supply of labor for that work in your given locale. Same as housing.

Yes, in a free market this is the only way it can happen.
But historically the US has seen two other ways:
1) government mandated minimum wages and government jobs with set wages.
2) organized labor (unions) which require legal support from government. If there are no laws to keep employers from intimidating or firing workers who organize, if the CEOs can just call in Pinkertons to shoot strikers, then labor can't move ahead and wages stay as low as possible. Sadly, laws are quite hostile to unions at present, and outsourcing has accounted for the demise of most union jobs. Then people ask: "where did all the good paying jobs go?"

freak80 says

When do wages go up? They don't. Machines and dirt-poor folks overseas can do most jobs for far less.

Once everyone in China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, etc has a job, that's when wages in places in the US might have a chance at going up, assuming that their jobs aren't replace by machines.

zzyzzx says

Once everyone in China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, etc has a job, that's when wages in places in the US might have a chance at going up, assuming that their jobs aren't replace by machines.

So knowing that, why do you side with the right-wing so much?

donjumpsuit says

In this scenario, the single person gets SCREWED.

The poor single person...

freak80 says

So knowing that, why do you side with the right-wing so much?

Clinton and Obama has also signed many free trade agreements that are destroying the US, so it's really not a partisan issue.

zzyzzx says

Clinton and Obama has also signed many free trade agreements that are destroying the US, so it's really not a partisan issue.

Very true.

But the solution isn't *even more* right-wing "global free market" ideology that will enslave us to a global plutocracy.

Like Bill Maher said, we basically have a center-right party (the Democrats) and *crazy* party (the Republicans).

There is no political party in America that represents the interests of average people.

freak80 says

But the solution isn't *even more* right-wing "global free market" ideology that will enslave us to a global plutocracy.

The solution isn't even more* left-wing "global free market" ideology that will enslave us to a global plutocracy. I offer Obama's Korean free trade agreement as a fine example of this.

zzyzzx says

The solution isn't even more* left-wing "global free market" ideology that will enslave us to a global plutocracy. I offer Obama's Korean free trade agreement as a fine example of this.

Agree.

What can we do to stop it?

freak80 says

What can we do to stop it?

Wish I knew.

EastCoastBubbleBoy says

When do wages go up?

Answer: When we all become landlords and pay ourselves a salary out of our increasing rental income.

Until then, we have a consumption driven economy in which people aren't saving enough for retirement, and yet rents for housing, health care and college, continue to rise, and wages just stay stable.

It's magic !!