My father in law could support a family of 2 kids and wife, afford a new
house and car---all at a middle class salary level. This in the 1950's.
Today, well you know. Two earners in the family and running faster and
faster to keep up.
So what happened in the last 40 to 50 years or so. It is it just the entry
to the labour force of women thereby driving up land values (over to you
Harry, to spell out what we should have done with the land tax that didn't
happen).....
Or was it something else. How did we go from relative ease in the late
50's to keen, lean and mean in the late 90's and early 2000's.? Why do
we need two wage earner households to more or less accomplish what a one
wage earner household accomplished in the 1950s and early 60s?
Arthur Cordell
The two factors I mentioned in my earlier post (automation & pop growth) were roaring ahead at the highest speed ever during the latter half of the 20thC. Global Population DOUBLED in the past 40 years. I'd have to dig upthe stats for Europe, UK, N. America to give rates for those areas, but the growth was certainly substantial even if not up to the global rate. Immigration accounted for much of it. I'm not claiming these are the only factors; but Occams Razor and common sense tell me that they are significant. Greider isn't a wacko, and global econ war includes competing labor rates.
Steve
(Happy New Year)
Total Midyear Population for the World: 1950-2050
Average Average annual annual growth population Year Population rate (%) change
1950 2,555,078,074 1.47 37,783,610 1951 2,592,861,684 1.61 42,057,724 1952 2,634,919,408 1.71 45,334,288 1953 2,680,253,696 1.77 47,968,370 1954 2,728,222,066 1.87 51,447,715
1955 2,779,669,781 1.89 52,953,889
1956 2,832,623,670 1.95 55,820,377
1957 2,888,444,047 1.94 56,498,740
1958 2,944,942,787 1.76 52,326,211
1959 2,997,268,998 1.39 42,063,403
1960 3,039,332,401 1.33 40,781,960
1961 3,080,114,361 1.80 56,083,390
1962 3,136,197,751
2.19 69,508,948
1963 3,205,706,699 2.19 71,110,065
1964 3,276,816,764 2.08 69,021,089
1965 3,345,837,853 2.08 70,227,393
1966 3,416,065,246 2.02 69,742,104
1967 3,485,807,350 2.04 71,868,340
1968 3,557,675,690 2.08 74,665,661
1969 3,632,341,351 2.05 75,268,761
1970 3,707,610,112 2.07 77,580,647
1971 3,785,190,759 2.01 77,006,527
1972 3,862,197,286 1.96 76,511,302
1973 3,938,708,588 1.91 75,889,828
1974 4,014,598,416 1.82 73,625,631
1975 4,088,224,047 1.75 72,167,756
1976 4,160,391,803 1.73 72,536,792
1977 4,232,928,595 1.70 72,474,692
1978 4,305,403,287 1.74 75,373,540
1979
4,380,776,827 1.72 75,928,390
1980 4,456,705,217 1.70 76,259,715
1981 4,532,964,932 1.76 80,436,954
1982 4,613,401,886 1.73 80,530,264
1983 4,693,932,150 1.68 79,634,655
1984 4,773,566,805 1.68 81,036,085
1985 4,854,602,890 1.70 83,004,818
1986 4,937,607,708 1.73 85,962,468
1987 5,023,570,176 1.71 86,583,085
1988 5,110,153,261 1.67 86,179,948
1989 5,196,333,209 1.67 87,422,136
1990 5,283,755,345 1.56 83,182,744
1991 5,366,938,089 1.53 82,725,730
1992 5,449,663,819 1.48 81,337,993
1993 5,531,001,812 1.44 79,976,536
1994 5,610,978,348 1.41 79,887,428
1995 5,690,865,776 1.36 77,746,508
1996 5,768,612,284 1.35 78,192,518
1997 5,846,804,802 1.32 77,770,099
1998 5,924,574,901 1.31 77,934,526
1999 6,002,509,427 1.29 77,632,256
2000 6,080,141,683 1.26 77,258,877
2001 6,157,400,560 1.24 76,849,827
2002 6,234,250,387 1.22 76,299,210
2003 6,310,549,597 1.19 75,477,418
2004 6,386,027,015 1.16 74,526,549
2005 6,460,553,564 1.14 73,759,794
2006 6,534,313,358 1.12 73,307,780
2007 6,607,621,138 1.10 72,774,552
2008 6,680,395,690 1.07 72,012,218
2009 6,752,407,908 1.05 71,226,645
2010 6,823,634,553 1.03 70,770,206
2011 6,894,404,759 1.02 70,638,751
2012 6,965,043,510 1.01
70,466,862
2013 7,035,510,372 0.99 70,232,623
2014 7,105,742,995 0.98 69,932,071
2015 7,175,675,066 0.97 69,613,925
2016 7,245,288,991 0.95 69,172,133
2017 7,314,461,124 0.93 68,537,288
2018 7,382,998,412 0.92 67,877,546
2019 7,450,875,958 0.90 67,134,642
2020 7,518,010,600 0.88 66,371,114
2021 7,584,381,714 0.86 65,530,746
2022 7,649,912,460 0.84 64,563,881
2023 7,714,476,341 0.82 63,596,837
2024 7,778,073,178 0.80 62,587,177
2025 7,840,660,355 0.78 61,682,010
2026 7,902,342,365 0.77 60,869,928
2027 7,963,212,293 0.75 59,981,878
2028 8,023,194,171 0.73 59,060,143
2029 8,082,254,
314 0.72 58,089,926
2030 8,140,344,240 0.70 57,189,977
2031 8,197,534,217 0.68 56,329,702
2032 8,253,863,919 0.67 55,336,454
2033 8,309,200,373 0.65 54,292,787
2034 8,363,493,160 0.63 53,249,118
2035 8,416,742,278 0.62 52,278,271
2036 8,469,020,549 0.60 51,366,513
2037 8,520,387,062 0.59 50,352,314
2038 8,570,739,376 0.57 49,313,531
2039 8,620,052,907 0.56 48,338,547
2040 8,668,391,454 0.55 47,462,555
2041 8,715,854,009 0.53 46,648,317
2042 8,762,502,326 0.52 45,741,361
2043 8,808,243,687 0.51 44,825,944
2044 8,853,069,631 0.50 44,003,864
2045 8,897,073,495 0.48 43,234,092
2046
8,940,307,587 0.47 42,454,580
2047 8,982,762,167 0.46 41,502,870
2048 9,024,265,037 0.45 40,456,148
2049 9,064,721,185 0.43 39,484,645
2050 9,104,205,830
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, International Data Base.
Note: Data updated 05-10-2000.
All population figures in the IDB for the United States, Puerto Rico, and Insular Areas
are based on the 1990 Census; they do not reflect Census 2000 counts.
-- http://magma.ca/~gpco/ http://www.scientists4pr.org/ Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.—Kenneth Boulding
