SOC 125 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: International Trade, Financialization, Consumerism
Document Summary
Obstacles to transitioning to high road capitalism. Closing the low-road and paving the high road. Between end of wwii and 1973 earnings grew steadily and equally. Household incomes contributed to rise but slower pace and due to woman working (2 earner households) Income growth became increasingly concentrated at the top. Sharp divergence in productivity growth of employee compensation. Productivity increases going to high end of wage-earners, no longer equal, highly unequal. Change in types of jobs being created. Job polarization at the top and bottom of income structure. Changes in the composition of economic sector within the economy. 2 major economic sectors in the real economy. Goods producing: (most goods producing is manufacturing) Service producing: (often pay less than goods- producing jobs) Us economy not creating broadly shared income. A high-road economy will still have low-road firms. Possible examples of firms with low-road/high-road characteristics low walmart, old textile industry, low skill manufacture.
