A Flat Economy for 8 years - Breathing Space Blog

William Falk, editor of The Week magazine, in March 2013 wrote:

       “Stocks are booming, with the Dow Jones industrial average this week climbing to an all-time high. Corporate profits are soaring, and companies have piled up a record $1.4 trillion in available cash. It is, The New York Times said this week, ‘a golden age’ for corporate profits. So are you feeling flush? Pocketing a fat raise? Didn't think so.”

       “Since 2008, corporate earnings have risen 20% a year, while worker salaries have been flat. Even when companies expand, they don't hire new workers. United Technologies, for example, has raised its annual revenues by $15 billion since 2005, but cut 4,000 workers last year and will cut 3,000 more this year. ‘Productivity,’ the CEO explained.”

      “Ah, ‘productivity’ – a fine-sounding word. In practice, it means 11-hour days, working on weekends, skipped vacations. In practice, says a new survey by the American Psychological Association, it means that more than half the U.S. workforce feels underpaid and unappreciated, and a third suffers symptoms of chronic, work-induced stress. But how can a worker bee complain? Millions of unemployed Americans would gladly take their jobs for less pay, and so would millions of telecommuters in India, China, and Brazil...”