Measured In Gold, The Story Of American Wages Is An Ugly One

Summary: Stagnant and declining real wages is a common topic of discussion in the U.S. today. Coupled with a declining dollar, this is an issue that’s all too real to the vast majority of families. If we look at wages in just dollar terms, the picture isn’t pretty. A minimum wage worker today has to work 12% longer than they did in 1965 to afford a gallon of milk. Higher-paid professionals like engineers, etc. have to work twice as long to afford a gallon of gas. But if we compare prices and wages to gold, the story gets worse, much worse in fact. Taking the same minimum wage worker and the price of gold in 1965, we find that the average minimum wage worker would earn 71-ounces of gold per year. But if we look at the higher-paid professionals today, they average 63-ounces of gold per year. That’s right – a minimum wage worker made more in 1965 (in terms of gold) than professionals like engineers and attorneys do today. When calculated in gold, the average worker today only makes 10% of the average worker in 1965. Read more…