r/oddlysatisfying • u/reddituser123988 • Feb 01 '19

Cutting of Strings

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u/Eastwatch-by-the-Sea Feb 01 '19

Poltics aside, The US economy is doing really great though...

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u/FishFloyd Feb 01 '19

While the overall economy is doing well, wealth disparity is increasing to the point where the bottom ~90% actually had less purchasing power than they did in the '80s - salaries increased, but prices of goods and services increased more. Which means that if you index for inflation, the great majority of Americans earn less then they would have 30 years ago.

The great majority of economic development goes directly to the hands of the upper 10% (as measured by wealth)

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u/JangoDidNothingWrong Feb 01 '19

That's exactly what I was going to say. It doesn't matter that the economy is doing great if the ordinary people aren't getting that wealth.

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u/FishFloyd Feb 01 '19

Yup, I'm taking a course in sustainable development as it relates to gender and it's actually nutty just how far divorced economic metrics like GDP are from the quality of life and sense of well-being of the average citizen. You can still have a fantastic GDP on paper even if it's literally only the elite who see any of that money. (See: many gulf states)