"Our chart, however, looks at overall national income, which is roughly divided between labor income and capital income. It does show that profits have been growing faster than national income, which is the flip side of the declining labor share. "
PGL also quotes from this Bloomberg article:
Bush's Expansion Leaves Workers Behind, Sparking Fed Friction
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- American workers have rarely taken home a smaller share of the nation's prosperity, a condition that is undermining bipartisan support for free trade and creating friction between President George W. Bush's administration and the Federal Reserve.
After 16 consecutive quarters of economic growth, pay is rising at a slower rate than in any similar expansion since the end of World War II. Companies are paying less of their cash gains in the form of wages and salaries than at any time since the Great Depression, according to government figures.
Wages and salaries as a share of the cash corporations are generating from the expansion stood at 51 percent in the second and third quarters, the lowest in government records going back to 1929. Including benefits, labor's share was the lowest since 1997.
Here's a little factoid from the article that shows even Wal-Mart isn't entirely rapacious and delusional:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott last October urged Congress to raise the minimum wage, which has remained at $5.15 an hour since 1997, saying the company's customers ``are struggling to get by.''
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