Economist article skeptical of income inequality narratives
Pastebin link to get around paywall: https://pastebin.com/print/B7eZpVus
Article doesn't have a single argument, but rather general skepticism on various narratives around income inequality:
- Estimates for inflation adjusted median wage growth are difficult to do, and over the 1979-2014 period they range from -8% to +51%
- Corporate profits get funneled into retirement accounts. In 2015, 50% of stock shares were owned by retirement accounts (vs. 4% in 1960)
- Increases in divorce in poor households lowers mean household income, even if it doesn't affect individual earnings
- They claim labor share of profit is steady if you exclude income that goes to homeowners, suggesting that it's housing, not capital, that's absorbing a lot of profit
link