You are paying for it

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by dylbert

This has been an interesting early morning read. Thread begins with 'study' that most academics would consider suspect, if not outright invalid. Extrapolating findings from median values is folly.

35 years ago I was graduate student in economics at a well-known US university. My graduate assistant stipend, $175 per month, was mostly funded by two 'studies'. One study measured the impact of new navigable waterway system on rural unemployment in Mississippi & Alabama. The second one trained government workers on how to run 'Comprehensive Education & Training' programs. Both studies were funded through grants from US government.

Corps of Engineers wanted study that showed that new waterway system lowered unemployment. We delivered one. Carter Administration wanted to create new training & employment programs. We delivered training on how to startup & fund programs in rural South.

My point is give an academic a grant and you will get answer you want! Give these quasi-government think tank outfits money and they too will provide answer you want. And with today's technology, most anyone can mashup 'facts' from any number of 'studies' to support any argument or cause.

So find a study, start thread, and watch the fun begin!

Also....what am i to take away from the 2011 cbo study that shows that since 1979, growth for the top 1% wage wise is over 275%, but for the next 60 % is about 40%? What about the finding that not only has income inequality risen in most developed coutnries, the change is greatest here?
and what am i to discern from the statistic that only 42% of americans believe that this inequality actually exists, regardless of all the findings?
In 2012, the wage gap was the largest since the 1920s...with the top 1% seeing a 20% gain, the other 99% saw a 1% increase.

What are we to do about the opportunities that once were here, and aren't any more? People say reward hard work, thats not happening. People discuss the good old days, but our economic landscape and job market isnt the same. We actually have more skilled workers.....and less jobs demanding skills.