>
>I don't think we are losing ground financially if you look at what people
>earn. U.S. minimum wage in 1973 was $1.80/hr I believe. I think it's very
>close to $7.00 now, about the same, if not a bit more in comparison. In my
>line of work, a rookie cop would earn 4to 4 1/2 times the salary they
would
>earn in 1973, also on par with the above OM comparison. But the OM-4T is a
>much more featured camera than the OM-1, and may not be the best comparison,
I agree that it is not fair to compare the OM-1 with the -4t, but I disagree
about wages. The situation in that regard is somewhat complex, as this
statement from the Economic Policy Institute, an apparent "think tank" based
in the US, indicates:
"The most important indicator of how working people are doing economically is
whether, and by how much, "real wages" -- the inflation-adjusted purchasing
power of our paychecks -- are rising.
-For 23 years, from 1973 through 1996, the news about wages and benefits
wasn't good for most workers. However, a turn-around began in 1997. There are
still many losses to be regained, but the wage trend is finally moving in the
right direction.
-The wages paid at the median of the pay scale (in other words, the job in
the middle, which pays more than half of all jobs but less than the other
half of all jobs) declined between 1973 and 1996, but finally began rising in
1997-99. However, this median wage did not surpass the 1989 level until mid-
1999 and it remains substantially below the level reached in 1973 when the
downturn began.
-There are a growing number of jobs paying poverty-level wages, defined as an
hourly wage so low that a worker employed full time cannot pull a family of
four above the poverty line. In 1998, 290f all workers were in jobs paying
poverty-level wages, a larger share than in the past.
-The share of the work force receiving employer-sponsored health insurance
has been falling: from 80 0n 1979 to 75 0n 1998. Pension coverage was
largely unchanged over this period -- just 490f workers have a pension
through their employer.
-Wages became more unequal between 1979 and 1999 -- the rich got richer and
the poor became poorer."
Now, I don't know if this "Institute" is some left wing radical group or a
middle of the road non-partisan assemblage, but I think most economists will
agree with the above. I don't mean to spread doom and gloom, and I certainly
don't intend to start an argument about this, but I only wanted to say that I
based my statements on the writings of people with more expertise in this
area than I.
What I am trying to say is that to a great extent, all of the talk by upper
level government officials about how well the economy is doing here in the US
does not tell the whole story, and as a result, things that were affordable
back in 1973 are out of reach by now. One example I have in mind is the fact
that my parents bought a brand new single family home on a 1/4 acre lot back
in 1964 on the salary of an enlisted man in the Navy at the ripe old age of
28. Here I am, 41 years old, and just now buying a 30 year old single family
home much, much farther away from my workplace. Granted, I am divorced with
one child, but I am also much higher paid, relatively speaking than my
father. I also live in a more expensive area, so maybe my comparason is not
completely fair. But, to make my point, photographic gear at least appears to
be more expensive, relatively speaking, than it used to be 20 years ago.
--
Be Seeing You.
Dirk Wright
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