US profit and labor shares moved in exact symmetric opposition over forty years

Evidence

In a 2020 macroeconomic analysis of the US economy, the economists Lance Taylor and Özlem Ömer showed that in the preceding forty years, the profi t share of the nation’s output rose substantially, while the labor share of that same output correspondingly went down. Th e relationship between owner profi t and worker loss was symmetrical; one was taking from the other. An increase in exploitation was also evident, with real wages grossly lagging behind labor productivity. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 82

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Financialization caused most of the decline in labor’s income share since 1970 — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 158; Labor’s share of income declined in the nonfinancial economy from 1970 to 2008 — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 74; Financialization may erode the postwar capital-labor social pact — Greta R. Krippner, The Financialization of the American…, 142 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Labor’s share of income declined in the nonfinancial economy from 1970 to 2008 #corroborates (0.82) — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 74
• Financialization caused most of the decline in labor’s income share since 1970 #corroborates (0.80) — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 158
• Financialization may erode the postwar capital-labor social pact #qualifies (0.75) — Greta R. Krippner, The Financialization of the American…, 142
• Greater import penetration lowers labor’s share of income #qualifies (0.72) — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 133