Look! A Brick Wall...

At the end of this tunnel.

Think you're doing OK?

In 1973, the median male weekly wage was $486.10. Source: The State of Working America by Lawrence R. Mishel, David M. Frankel, p. 78. Corrected for inflation, that is $2,361.45 in 2009 dollars, or $122,795.40 annually.

In its report entitled "USUAL WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WAGE AND SALARY WORKERS: SECOND QUARTER 2009", the BLS reported the median male weekly wage is now $815, or $42,380 annually.

Hmmm... 1972, $2300/week. 2009, $800/wk. in 2009 dollars, dollars that have only one-third the purchasing power of the 1970 dollar.

But do we still have 1970 prices? Don't make me laugh... A brand new full-sized 1976 Chevy pickup, with V-8, auto tranny, air conditioning, power steering and power brakes cost about $7,500.00. I know, I bought one. Oh yes, an AM/FM radio also... and a real tire for a spare.

Maybe that's why in the early 1970's - when I was working at the Los Alamos National Lab - my wife was a stay-at-home mom, we owned a 4,000 Sq. Ft. two-story Mediterranean-style home with a $26,000 mortgage. I had a new pickup, she had a new 5-door runabout.

Now: A 1,300 sq.ft. single story frame house with a $96,000 mortgage, and an 11-year-old car that's a candidate for the "Cash for Clunkers" Program* which we are keeping, because it still runs fine. Besides, we can't afford the insurance and payments on a new car anyway.

As Vox said in his "Green shoots or red tidal wave?" post:

So, that's what immigration, offshoring, and women's rights have accomplished for the country, a two-thirds reduction in male wages. Inexpensive debt has hitherto concealed some of the ramifications of that collapse in real wages for a while, but as the chart shows, it can't do it forever.

*Note to those proven morons in Washington:

Some of those turned in cars in your "Cash-for-Clunkers" program are newer and in better shape than the one we now have. YOU WASHINGTON IDIOTS... All least let me go get one of them to use, instead of you having them disabled and ground up for scrap. I'll even split the cost with you 50/50.

Good grief, just how stupid can those politicians get?