In 1914, unskilled Ford workers were paid $5 a day for a six-day workweek — totaling $1,560/year, roughly 75 ounces of gold at the time. Today, with gold at about $4,210 per ounce, that same 75 ounces would be worth over $317,000. Meanwhile, the median U.S. worker earns ~$62,000 — just 20% of the 1914 real wage. A century ago, a basic wage meant real security; now it’s daily struggle. The system is criminal.
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@OP it is easy to make these comparisons when one of the variables are at close to an all time high…..similar thinking in touting the s&p, Dow, etc against all other assets….
@1v7 I don’t think this is a generational problem but rather the result of a toxic system. Most of the boomers seem to have already been pushed out, and what remains, regardless of age, is leadership that’s deeply self-serving.
In my department, the people at the top protect their privilege and push the cost onto everyone else. They take credit for work they didn’t do, preach sacrifice to their teams, and treat their titles as proof of brilliance rather than circumstance. From what I can tell, they got ahead by playing the game, aligning with the right people, and being in the right place at the right time, then convinced themselves that meant they were exceptional.
Morale is gone. Leadership may feel impressive talking about themselves again and again at all hands meetings, but they are not respected and they are not liked, and they seem either unaware of that fact or completely indifferent to it.
@b0 Actually, Ford was refusing to pay a dividend when the company was sitting on enormous earnings and the minority shareholders were demanding Ford pay a dividend. The court held that when a corporation has large surplus profits, management cannot deliberately withhold dividends not that wages couldn't be increased or the company couldn't be expanded. The whole "shareholder value" BS was dicta, but has been misused and then in the 80s it exploded. Unfortunately, today's CEOs are hired to extract value, not build companies. IMO it should be illegal for a company to layoff employees in a profitable year. They should also not be able to spend $$ on buybacks and layoff. In 2022, U.S. companies spent about $1 trillion on buybacks while laying off or freezing wages. Then they whine when people aren't spending huge sums of money on Black Friday.
@bp Countries like Germany and Japan had stronger currencies at the time and were about to convert to, and demand redemption of, enough dollars into gold to essentially empty Fort Knox. So, we wouldn't have had a gold standard, anyway.
I don’t think it’s “boomers”. They are the only adults who work there. The millennials they have promoted into management roles have destroyed the culture. They’re entitled, pompous, premadonnas who are out for themselves and have zero leadership skills despite thinking they’re awesome!
@fw Boomers have completely fu*&ed everything. They are the generation that thinks they are owed a perfect retirement at age 60 even though they pilfered the coffers of America their whole lives and provided little value back. They love to cr-p on GenX, Millenials, and the other newer generations, but they are everything that is wrong with America.
Fiat currencies are why you don't have massive inflation swings... you lose control when you are tied to something you can dig up.
$5 in 1914 is worth ~$161.99 today, so actually workers are doing better (not that $5 a day was great in 1914).
The issue is that the wealth gap is getting bigger. e.g. 70% of people think they are middle class, it's actually only 40%. The top 10% hold far more assets than ever (aka rich getting richer).
The gold standard had little impact on wages. Goods and wages would have been priced regardless of the reference. Like crypto, it’s illusion based on people’s valuations.
Wages didn’t keep up with inflation because Americans refused to fight for parity. Workers embraced right-to-work and anti-union initiatives from the GOP, and banks offered excessive debt. The 30-year fixed mortgage was fairly unique to the US. And people signed up for it in droves.
Who would vote this post down ? Seriously, who wants people to suffer and simply grind to survive? I have a feeling it’s the entitled boomer generation that just can’t deal with the current situation of things. They’re like angry children, kicking, and screaming trying to live in the past that doesn’t exist anymore without facing the reality that is America today.
I'll never forgive Nixon for taking us off the gold standard as it completely messed up the economy. Fiat currencies are a scourge.
Henry Ford also tried to give his workers a raise when the company was performing well and he was sued for not delivering value to (((shareholders)))