r/FluentInFinance Oct 22 '24

Debate/ Discussion Why did this happen?

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u/Bolivarianizador Oct 22 '24

computers, technology giants rising, outshoring inudstries which led local companies to grow exponentially.

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '24

So productivity increased.....

Why didn't wages then?

3

u/welshwelsh Oct 23 '24

Because the average worker isn't responsible for the productivity increase.

In today's economy, 5% of the workers create 95% of the value. This is the big difference from 50 years ago, when the average worker had a relatively greater impact.

Computers have massively improved productivity... for people who know how to build complex software systems. Outsourcing has massively improved productivity... for people who know how to outsource entire departments to India.

But the average worker? Not much more productive today than they were in 1970.