Plutocracy

Wages used to go up as productivity went up, but in the 1970s they decoupled. Productivity kept going up but wages stagnated.

The average American’s living standard would be much, much higher today if wages had not decoupled from productivity gains – with the gains all going to the 1 percent instead of being shared by workers. If wages had kept pace we wouldn’t feel the terrible squeeze that everyone in the middle class is feeling.