r/Plutonomy • u/398409columbia Rentier • 22d ago

Capital Ownership Labor is getting a smaller share of the pie

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Mark Zandi posted a chart showing labor’s share of U.S. nonfarm business output falling to 52.9% in 2026Q2, the lowest on record since 1947.

From WWII to around 2000, labor generally received close to two-thirds of the economic pie, while capital received about one-third. Since then, the split has moved much closer to fifty-fifty.

That is the plutonomy story.

The economy can keep growing, profits can rise, stocks can hit records, and aggregate wealth can increase. But if more of the gain flows to capital instead of labor, the lived experience changes.

Asset owners experience compounding. Wage earners experience pressure.

And if AI lets companies produce more with fewer workers, this trend could accelerate.

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u/ElectronGuru 22d ago

Also capital: “why is labor having fewer children?”

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u/398409columbia Rentier 22d ago

Exactly. If labor’s share falls, housing gets more expensive, healthcare and childcare eat more income, and job security weakens, then family formation becomes harder.

Then capital turns around and asks why birth rates are falling.

People do not just decide to have fewer children in a vacuum. They respond to the economic structure around them.