The promises and the pitfalls of the new economy

For the first time since the Census Bureau began tracking such data back in the mid-
1940s, the real incomes of middle-class families are lower at the end of this business cycle
than they were when it started. This fact stands as the single most compelling piece of
evidence that prosperity is eluding working families.
Where has all that productivity growth been going? As this book extensively documents,
it has gone to the top of the income scale, and the higher up you started out, the
better you did. From 1947 to 1979, the top sliver of wage earners made about 20 times that
of the bottom 90%. By 2006, that ratio had catapulted to 77 times more.
Now, there are some smart, hard-working, and creative people up there in that rarified
end of the economic stratosphere, and some deserve large returns for their labors. But they
cannot possibly be the only ones whose living standards should be boosted in a growing
economy. Productivity growth is a result of the efforts of the whole workforce, not just the
fortunate few. Yes, it reflects the work of the CEOs and CFOs at the top of the corporate
ladder. But it also reflects the work of the waitperson who serves those executives their
lunch, the construction worker who builds their homes, the manufacturer who forges the
steel that girds their corporate headquarters, the home health aid who cares for their aging
parents, the cop who protects their beat, and the teacher who educates their kids.