We hear a number of reasons from politicians and pundits for the decline in median household income over the last decade, mostly reasons that involve a narrative about economic stagnation and growing inequality caused by the progressives’ usual suspects: gains in worker productivity, income and wealth going to corporations and “the rich” instead of being shared by average workers; failure to increase the minimum wage or pass “living wage” laws; the combined effects of globalization, free trade and outsourcing putting downward pressure on middle-class incomes in America, and other variations of economic pessimism. Former President Bill Clinton recently offered his three reasons for stagnant median household income that include not raising the minimum wage and excessive corporate greed.
But there are some other very obvious, but mostly overlooked, factors that could easily explain why median household income has declined over the last decade that have nothing to do with economic stagnation.
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