Can Capitalists Continue to Squeeze the Income Share of Employees?

Arbeitspapier

There is much debate over the distributive share of employees in national income – how to measure it, whether it goes up or down and, of course, why it matters. But something in this debate often seems amiss. Like many aggregates, the national income share of employees is a synthetic measure. It’s made up of two largely unrelated entities – the relative number of employees in society and their relative individual income – and these two entities don’t have to move in the same direction. Indeed, in the United States they have trended in opposite directions for almost a century. In this short research note, which focuses on the United States, we examine these opposite movements, explain why they are important and suggest that, if they continue, the United States will be much more conflictual and crisis prone in the future than it is today.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Research Note

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Capitalist Systems: Political Economy
• Subject: income distribution ; national accounts ; power

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Bichler, Shimshon ; Nitzan, Jonathan
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The Bichler and Nitzan Archives
• (where): Toronto
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/226523
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET