A new viral video claims that life is 8 to 10 times harder today than it was in the 1980s. With over 28 million views on TikTok, it's no wonder this topic has caught everyone's attention.
"Technological advancements and globalization have reduced the costs of many consumer goods. Food and clothing, for instance, have become relatively cheaper and more accessible. The rapid advancement of technology has not only created new industries and job opportunities but also significantly reduced the costs of many goods and services."
I'm not known in my circles for being an optimist. However, I frequently comment on what a time it is to be alive, how prosperous and comfortable we as a society are. We truly live in a time of (technological) miracles. So the above quoted lines resonated. On that note, some positive economic bits (NB: I don't necessarily agree with all of the authors' opinions, but the overall takeaways are good):
I loved Tim Lee's post from a few years ago about the differences living then and now, and have been patiently waiting for the chance to bring it into an article. When I taught labor economics, I would often show pictures of working conditions through the decades to help students see how much different things have become.
I don't have to read this to see what rubbish is being written here!
My father worked in retail for 36 hours a week and he could pay for everything, there were never any problems
Today my brother and I work in a steel factory and because we live together and pool our money we can't afford what our father could. I don't think your numbers work like that!
The same goes for our step-sister's father. He worked in the same job back then (until now) in the same company in the same building (bakery). He can only afford cheap food. He hasn't been to a restaurant with his wife for years, let alone to the cinema or anything else. He can't afford a new car either. He and his wife are considering moving to the country because they can hardly afford life in the city anymore...
I notice it with my brother too. In the last 10 years alone, we have noticed how we can afford less and less, even though we now earn twice as much as we did at the beginning, there is less and less money left in our pockets at the end of the month and we have had to make huge sacrifices.
"Technological advancements and globalization have reduced the costs of many consumer goods. Food and clothing, for instance, have become relatively cheaper and more accessible. The rapid advancement of technology has not only created new industries and job opportunities but also significantly reduced the costs of many goods and services."
I'm not known in my circles for being an optimist. However, I frequently comment on what a time it is to be alive, how prosperous and comfortable we as a society are. We truly live in a time of (technological) miracles. So the above quoted lines resonated. On that note, some positive economic bits (NB: I don't necessarily agree with all of the authors' opinions, but the overall takeaways are good):
People are spending less of their income on food:
https://cepr.net/in-the-good-old-days-one-fourth-of-income-went-to-food/
The cost of lighting your environment is de minimus:
https://www.statista.com/chart/10567/the-cost-of-light-through-the-ages/
Shown also in two graphs, their metrics being inverses of each other:
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/the-productivity-of-labour-in-producing-light-lumen-hours-per-hour-of-labour-1800-to-the-present
https://humanprogress.org/dataset/time-worked-at-average-wage-for-one-hour-of-light/
And, of course, my intuitive (and sarcastic) "gee, I wonder why costs of some things are rising so much faster than inflation" response:
https://www.rationalexuberance.org/p/the-chart-of-the-century
although I confess that, according to this chart, housing has risen less (and food more) than I would have expected, which he addresses.
I loved Tim Lee's post from a few years ago about the differences living then and now, and have been patiently waiting for the chance to bring it into an article. When I taught labor economics, I would often show pictures of working conditions through the decades to help students see how much different things have become.
I don't have to read this to see what rubbish is being written here!
My father worked in retail for 36 hours a week and he could pay for everything, there were never any problems
Today my brother and I work in a steel factory and because we live together and pool our money we can't afford what our father could. I don't think your numbers work like that!
The same goes for our step-sister's father. He worked in the same job back then (until now) in the same company in the same building (bakery). He can only afford cheap food. He hasn't been to a restaurant with his wife for years, let alone to the cinema or anything else. He can't afford a new car either. He and his wife are considering moving to the country because they can hardly afford life in the city anymore...
I notice it with my brother too. In the last 10 years alone, we have noticed how we can afford less and less, even though we now earn twice as much as we did at the beginning, there is less and less money left in our pockets at the end of the month and we have had to make huge sacrifices.
Where the hell did you get your numbers from?
Sorry for my bad English I speak German