In the last year, even the 'smartest men in the room' PhDs with advanced degrees have seen their wages shrink, according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute [3]. As The WSJ notes [4], inflation has been low by most measures in recent years, but wage growth for the majority of workers has been even lower.
That means even small amounts of inflation have been painful for vast swaths of the workforce.
In recent years, one thing is clear: Neither monetary policy nor labor market policies nor fiscal policies have been able to boost earnings for most Americans. Only workers in the 80th percentile and up have seen their wage gains outpace inflation, though not by much.
Even the PhDs are losing money this year...
[5]
But since 2007, only the 80th percentile of wage-earners and above have seen any gains...
[6]
As EPI notes,
“The poor performance of American workers’ wages in recent decades - particularly their failure to grow at anywhere near the pace of overall productivity, is the country’s central economic challenge,”
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In recent years, one thing is clear: Neither monetary policy nor labor market policies nor fiscal policies have been able to boost earnings for most Americans.
