America, What Happened?: Leaving Workers Behind

Excerpts from recent columns by Princeton economist
Paul Krugman in the New York Times:

"There are still some pundits out there lecturing people about how great the economy is. But most analysts seem to finally realize that Americans have good reasons to be unhappy with the state of the economy: although G.D.P. growth has been pretty good for the last few years, most workers have seen their wages lag behind inflation and their benefits deteriorate…

"Why have workers done so badly in a rich nation that keeps getting richer? That's a matter of dispute, although I believe there's a large political component: what we see today is the result of a quarter-century of policies that have systematically reduced workers' bargaining power.

"The important question now, however, is whether we're finally going to try to do something about the big disconnect. Wages may be difficult to raise, but we won't know until we try. And as for declining benefits — well, every other advanced country manages to provide everyone with health insurance, while spending less on health care than we do."
—From "The Big Disconnect," Sept. 1, 2006

Today, "the rich have seen their incomes soar, while working Americans have seen few if any gains…
"It seems likely that government policies have played a big role in America's growing economic polarization — not just easily measured policies like tax rates for the rich and the minimum wage, but things like the shift in Labor Department policy from protection of worker rights to tacit support for union-busting.
"And if that's true, it matters a lot which party is in power — and more important, which ideology."
—From "Wages, Wealth and Politics," Aug. 18, 2006