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Dear John,
We measure the economy all wrong. Whether it's jobs reports or the health of the stock market or growth in the GDP, these traditional measures mean virtually nothing when gains exceedingly go to the wealthy while workers get the shaft.
What good are more jobs if those jobs barely pay enough to live on?
What good is a roaring stock market if the richest 10 percent of Americans own more than 80 percent of it?
And what good is a large Gross Domestic Product if more and more of the total economy is going to the richest one-tenth of one percent?
As our latest video explores, these standard measures – jobs, the stock market, the GDP – don’t reveal how our economy is really doing, who is doing well, or the quality of our lives.
If you work a full-time minimum wage job, you won’t be able to afford rent on a one-bedroom apartment just about anywhere in the U.S. And when you get back after a long day of work, you’ll likely be met with bills up the wazoo for doctor visits, student loans, and utilities.
In fact, corporations have record profits and CEOs are paid so much because they’re squeezing more output from workers but paying lower wages. Over the past 40 years, productivity has grown 3.5 times as fast as hourly pay. Yet, over the last few decades, the real median income has barely budged.
The bottom line is that if we want to know how the economy is really doing, we need to look at the quality of our lives. How many of us are adequately housed and clothed and fed. How many of our kids are getting a good education. How many of us live in safety – or in fear.
You want to measure economic success? Go to the kitchen tables of America and listen.
Thanks for watching,
Robert Reich
Inequality Media
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