J. Zachary Mazlish on median wages under Biden

 [[{“value”:”An excellent post, one of the best things written this year in economics.  Here is part of the bottom line: Inflation did make the median voter poorer during Biden’s term. In no part of the income distribution did wages grow faster while Biden was President than they did 2012-2020. This is true in the raw
The post J. Zachary Mazlish on median wages under Biden appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.”}]] 

An excellent post, one of the best things written this year in economics.  Here is part of the bottom line:

Inflation did make the median voter poorer during Biden’s term.

In no part of the income distribution did wages grow faster while Biden was President than they did 2012-2020.

This is true in the raw data, and even more stark after compositional adjustment.
In particular, the change in median incomes was well below its 2012-20 run-rate.

But, the change in median wages is not what matters; it is the median change in wages that does. And this metric was even weaker under Biden: lower than any period in the last 30 years other than the Great Recession.
People do not feel wages, they feel total income. And median growth in total income — post taxes and transfers — was not just historically low: it collapsed and was deeply negative from 2021 onwards.

Much of this decline is due to timing of pandemic stimulus and even less the “fault of Biden” than other things.

Here is the full post, plenty of detail and distinctions throughout.

The post J. Zachary Mazlish on median wages under Biden appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

 Current Affairs, Data Source, Economics, Uncategorized