Democracy Collaborative

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A research and development lab for the democratic economy | #communitywealthbuilding #thenextsystem | democracycollaborative.org | Washington, D.C. & Cleveland, OH

Scottish street scene

Quotation from Aditya Chakrabortty:

Above a truly stunning graph showing average hourly wages for blue-collar workers in the United States, Chakrabortty notes that

for the vast majority of US employees—whether middle class or working class, teacher or shop assistant—wages have flatlined. Not for four or even 20 years—but for most of the past half century. Strip out inflation, and average hourly earnings for seven out of 10 employees have barely risen since Richard Nixon was in the White House.

As he explains, if you start from an oligarchy where, while the rich get steadily richer, “most workers only get by because of low gas and food prices,” and then add a hefty measure of post-Covid inflation, the recipe for conflagration is complete.