<story><title>Revealed: the 30-year economic betrayal dragging down Generation Y’s income</title><url>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/revealed-30-year-economic-betrayal-dragging-down-generation-y-income</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dpina</author><text>This appears to be correct based on everyone of my age sharing the same problems, but the article doesn&amp;#x27;t give any reasons on why it happens. Would be good to get some more information on causes as this is a rather very interesting topic. Any HN readers have good sources?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>fucking_tragedy</author><text>Profits from labor&amp;#x27;s vastly increased productivity over the 40 years have been captured almost entirely by employers&amp;#x2F;owners&amp;#x2F;shareholders.&lt;p&gt;Nothing ever trickled down. What power we had to recapture the gains you and your parents worked hard for has been whittled away by years of anti-labor legislation and rhetoric.&lt;p&gt;Negotiating for increased wage for the average laborer in a non-unicorn market is difficult. Without union representation, it is a solitary worker with little funds versus firms and industries made up thousands of well-moneyed and well-lawyered people who share the same interest in wanting to make sure you never see more money than they absolutely have to give you. Without solidarity, you can be fired and replaced without repercussions for your employer from your fellow workers, all of whom share the interest in seeing you get paid fairly so that one day they might, too.&lt;p&gt;Globalization has made it easy to avoid pesky things like fair compensation, hours, working conditions, benefits and taxes that we&amp;#x27;ve come to take for granted in the US.</text></comment>
<story><title>Revealed: the 30-year economic betrayal dragging down Generation Y’s income</title><url>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/revealed-30-year-economic-betrayal-dragging-down-generation-y-income</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dpina</author><text>This appears to be correct based on everyone of my age sharing the same problems, but the article doesn&amp;#x27;t give any reasons on why it happens. Would be good to get some more information on causes as this is a rather very interesting topic. Any HN readers have good sources?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lkrubner</author><text>The world economy slowed in 1973. No one really knows why. Some books focus on the effects in the USA, some focus elsewhere. In the West this has been &amp;quot;The Great Stagnation&amp;quot; whereas in several countries in Asia this has been &amp;quot;The Great Bounce Back&amp;quot; as formerly wealthy civilizations, such as China, recovered some of the ground they lost in the 1800s.&lt;p&gt;Sad to say, I&amp;#x27;m not aware of any books that tell the whole international story.&lt;p&gt;For the USA, there have been an abundance of books and articles showing the decline of the middle class:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;billmoyers.com&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;26&amp;#x2F;middle-class&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;billmoyers.com&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;26&amp;#x2F;middle-class&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tyler Cowen came up with the phrase Great Stagnation:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Great-Stagnation-America-Low-Hanging-Eventually&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0525952713&amp;#x2F;ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1457354526&amp;amp;sr=8-3&amp;amp;keywords=tyler+cowen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Great-Stagnation-America-Low-Hanging-E...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some writers treat this as a political issue:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Boiling-Point-Republicans-Middle-Class-Prosperity&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0679404619&amp;#x2F;ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1457354859&amp;amp;sr=8-4&amp;amp;keywords=decline+of+middle+class&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Boiling-Point-Republicans-Middle-Class...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some writers focus on long-term factors that have little to do with politics. Robert Gordon got good reviews for his historical analysis of the specialness of the 2nd Industrial Revolution 1860-1940, and why the current era is not as robust:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;The-Rise-Fall-American-Growth&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0691147728&amp;#x2F;ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_cp_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;dpID=51N3J9armvL&amp;amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;amp;preST=_SL500_SR92%2C135_&amp;amp;refRID=0TSBYD4ETDER5E9DVG22&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;The-Rise-Fall-American-Growth&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;06911...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>