"One of the United States’ defining – and disheartening – economic trends over the last 40 years has been real-wage stagnation for most workers.Há qualquer coisa neste artigo que não bate certo.
...
the absence of real-wage growth is a major factor behind the stagnation of family incomes.
...
Many influential economists are now worried that the US faces anaemic growth and “secular stagnation,” owing to a persistent gap between aggregate demand and full employment. Stagnant middle-class incomes imply weak aggregate demand, which in turn means slack labour markets and stagnant wages for most workers.
...
Porter and Rivkin are not calling on businesses simply to pay their workers more. Instead, they are urging businesses to engage in a “strategic, collaborative” push to improve education and training to raise the skill levels of their workers.
...
The reality is different. US productivity has been growing at a respectable pace for two decades. The problem is that productivity gains have not translated into commensurate wage increases for the typical worker or income growth for the typical family.
.
According to standard economic theory, real wages should track productivity. As Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute has documented, this was the case from 1948 until about 1973. Since then, real wages for the typical worker have flat-lined, while productivity has continued to climb. Mishel calculates that productivity increased 80.4% from 1948 to 2011, while median real wages rose only 39% – almost none of the wage growth occurred during the last four decades.
...
Strong productivity growth is an important policy goal. But it is not enough to increase most workers’ wages or most families’ incomes.
...
Some 20 years ago, Alan Blinder of Princeton University corralled a number of economists, including me, to examine existing studies on the link between profit-sharing and productivity. The overwhelming majority of the studies found a strong positive effect.
...
America’s long-run living standards and economic competitiveness depend not just on productivity growth, but also on how that growth is shared. More equitable sharing of profits with America’s workers and their families would do much to address the worrisome stagnation of wages and middle-class incomes in recent decades."
.
A produtividade americana tem aumentado a bom ritmo? Sim!
Então, porquê a proposta final de partilha de lucros para aumentar a produtividade?
Quer dizer que um forte crescimento da produtividade não é suficiente para aumentar os salários? Claro! Alguma novidade?
Volto sempre ao exemplo da Brisa, a produtividade aumentou com a automatização dos pagamentos e os portageiros foram para a reforma ou desemprego.
.
Recomendo a leitura de dois textos que resumem muito bem o que aqui se defende no blogue ao longo dos anos sobre o eficientismo e a guerra entre o gato e o rato (salários e custos):
- Sobre a paranóia da eficiência e do eficientismo
- Aumentar o "producer surplus", o caminho menos percorrido (parte IV)
O aumento da produtividade pode resultar de um aumento da eficiência, ou seja, pode resultar da diminuição dos custos. Esta é a produtividade dos engenheiros e do pensamento de Saul (a tríade). Recordar:
Este é o aumento de produtividade de que nos falam 90% dos economistas, paineleiros e políticos. Este é o aumento de produtividade em que os americanos estão viciados há muitos anos:
"On the other side, we have a CFO, who has been given the mandate to cut down on cuts. This is fair enough in tough times, but the problem is that the CFO and his alliance do not really know much about innovation. They cut too deep. They lose their patience. No wonder. You get immediate results by cutting costs and – if successful – you have to wait 3-7 years to see the results of innovation. If you don’t know how innovation works, this becomes a no-brainer."
Como é que o calçado português aumentou a sua produtividade?
.
Concentrando-se mais no numerador da equação da produtividade, concentrando-se na criação de valor, onde não existem limites. Resultado? Esta alteração no perfil dos trabalhadores do sector.
Trechos retirados de "Why are US workers being left behind?"
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário