The Washington Monthly

November 30, 2005

OUR BOOMING ECONOMY....Ann Althouse takes the New York Times to task for suggesting that there might be a gray lining to today's news of healthy economic growth. Her commenters heartily agree. The droopy old Times is just trying to bring us all down even though the economy is obviously in dandy shape.

But that depends on who you are, doesn't it? Here's the LA Times on Tuesday:

For the second year in a row, wage and salary increases will average around 3.5% in 2006, several compensation experts predict.

The good news is that the average paycheck — in theory — should keep up with inflation, which is expected to be about 3% next year.

The bad news is that most employees will get less than 3.5%. That average is driven up by very high raises — as much as 9% — expected in a few fields with acute staff shortages, including nursing and financial services.

"If you're not in a high-demand position or covered by a union agreement, maybe you'll get 1% or 2%, if anything at all," said John Putzier, president of FirStep Inc., a Pittsburgh-area human resources firm. "It's going to be spotty."

So in an economy that's allegedly in terrific shape, workers will see an average pay increase that....barely matches inflation. And that's the good news! Most of them will actually see a decrease compared to inflation. Hooray!

A good economy is one in which lots of people make lots of money, not one in which Donald Trump's investments do better than last year. Guess which kind of economy we're in right now?

—Kevin Drum 1:36 PM Permalink | Trackbacks

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