HARD WORK AND HARD FACTS

Workers are always being implored to work harder. In fact governments often say that the reason their standards of living are falling is because they don't work hard enough, but what about this American example? "In 2010, according to a study published this month by University of California economist Emmanuel Saez, 93 per cent of income growth went to the wealthiest 1 per cent of American households, while everyone else divvied up the 7 per cent that was left over. Put another way: The most fundamental characteristic of the U.S. economy today is the divide between the 1 per cent and the 99 per cent. .... Research by Julia Isaacs of the Brookings Institution, as part of the Economic Mobility Project, has shown that intergenerational mobility in the United States has fallen far below the levels in Germany, Finland, Denmark and other more social democratic nations of Northern Europe. Now, Saez's analysis of income data provides further evidence that mocks America's self-image as a land where hard work yields rewards." (Washington Post, 23 March) As workers we have found out that hard work makes us tired. It does make the owning class rich though! RD