Three graphs

Here are three graphs which largely explain why the political establishment all across North America and Europe is losing power to populists like Donald Trump and Marie Le Pen and Boris Johnson and..and...and:

First, here is the record of U.S. wages in the past half century by fifths:






The top 2/5ths have done well. The bottom 3/5th have had almost no real wage increase in half a century.

Here is a graph of productivity vs wages over the same period:



If you want to explore why the lines diverge starting in the 70's let me suggest Mark Blyth's excellent lecture on YouTube here.  But the point is, where did all the excess profit go after the 70's if it didn't go proportionally to the workers? Here is the answer:

 


Look at the income growth of the top 0.01% in the nation. Most of that excess profit from increased productivity that didn't go to the workers went to them. Is it any wonder that we are voting into office people like Trump and Le Pen  and Johnson who promise to redress this balance (whether they can or not, whether they know how to or not, and whether they will really try or not).