Hosted by Abe Proctor and Joe Uris
When the bottom fell out of the financial markets in 2008, lawmakers rushed to bail out the architects of the global crash. But this begs a question -- when will we decide to bail out the collapsed labor market?
Abe and Joe examine the labor unrest in Longview, Wash., in the context of labor's decades-long decline. The purchasing power of the working class peaked in the early 1970s; since then, the vast majority of economic growth has gone to the upper reaches of the income scale. In fact, today's minimum wage is worth less in adjusted dollars than it was in 1956. What do you call an economy with this kind of disparity? Let's coin a word: neo-feudalism.
Also, Abe gives a nod to two recent milestones in Gen-X culture.
- KBOO