News Story of the Day: Then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan coined the famous political phrase: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Well, it seems presidential candidates can ask this question during the next round of primary and general election debates. Why? Despite the boom in the labor market – the boom and bust cycle – workers are actually worse off than they were five years ago.
According to the National Employment Labor Project (via CNBC), even with the reports of the economy creating 250,000 jobs per month, workers’ real wages, which includes the cost of living, is reversing. In fact, average pay tumbled four percent from 2009 to 2014.
Moreover, jobs in sectors that have gained the most since the economic collapse, like the service sector, have seen the biggest drops in pay. Restaurant workers saw their real pay fall 8.9 percent for cooks, 4.8 percent for servers and 7.7 percent for food preps.
And this has nothing to do with income inequality either. Ostensibly, real wages are falling for the top and bottom, three percent and 5.7 percent, respectively. The only jobs that haven’t been much affected in the private sector are private secretaries and administrative assistants.
“Workers in these lowest-wage jobs are doubly disadvantaged: their real wages are falling more quickly than workers in higher-paid jobs, and the starting points for the decline are already very low,” the report said. “These wage declines compromise the ability of workers across occupations to make ends meet, and exact a greater burden on those workers whose earnings are already lowest.”
The GOP would be foolish not to bring this up in the general election.
Chart of the Day: The Washington Post released a new chart that looked at President-in-waiting Hillary Clinton and her favorability rating over the past 20 years. As the chart below shows, when she was the First Lady, Americans liked her. As soon as she left the White House, Americans were split until around 2012, when she had the highest favorable rating. Today, it’s about 50-50.
Illustration of the Day: Yes, another Hillary Clinton point for today. This illustration comes from the Federalist Papers in regards to the latest scandals inflicting the Clinton presidential campaign.
Quote of the Day: With all this talk of protectionism from the Donald Trump campaign, it would be apt to include a fantastic quote from economist Walter Block. Trump should read this before he wants to build walls and impose tariffs on international trade.
“Protectionism is a misnomer. The only people protected by tariffs, quotas and trade restrictions are those engaged in uneconomic and wasteful activity. Free trade is the only philosophy compatible with international peace and prosperity.”
Video of the Day: Although William F. Buckley was quite the militant, neo-conservative, his show “Firing Line” was a very good show. Today’s infotainment hosts on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News should take a lesson from Buckley. One of Buckley’s frequent guests was Thomas Sowell, who discussed an array of economic, political and social matters. In this video below, he discusses affirmative action, which in itself is a ridiculous and racist policy. Sowell dismantles the policy in this 15-minute clip.
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