The new world countries, (Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand) were all wealthier on average than those countries in Europe because they had abundant natural resources but a small population. Thus wages were quite high because labor was in high demand. Now, with massive immigration and dwindling natural resources, the ratio of natural resources to people is leveling off and even declining in the US which is why we have had stagnant wages for 50 years. Wages will continue to decline until US wages reach their European counterparts. Most jobs in the US still pay more than in Europe.
When the US ran out of arable land around 1875, the poor began to pile up in the inner cities and massive economic inequality emerged. It wasn't long after the US ran out of land, that unions started to form and began agitating for free handouts.This is the worst take in human history. Seriously. You're denying our capability to innovate. Abundant natural resources can have an adverse effect on a nation's wealth (see Africa, South America, and Singapore). Small population is also not an advantage (see US immigration and growth in the late 1800s and China's growth today). If you believe this outdated nonsense that the world economy is a zero-sum game, let me introduce you to the Industrial Revolution. People are now capital, and contribute to economic production. Measuring wages has little value, because it's obvious that things get cheaper over-time (relative to inflation) due to innovation. However, your "stagnant wages for 50 years" is also non-sense because it compares one point to another without looking at anything in between. Here are the average weekly earnings of *workers*:
https://imgur.com/a/cVjVURCFor whatever reason, it's in 1984 dollars, but the point still goes: wages are rising (until coronavirus). Why did they fall from 1972 levels?
1. They fell in 1973 due to the oil embargo and following recession.
2. Automation of manufacturing jobs (supervisory jobs don't count on this graph).
3. See that little drop in 2008? That was the great financial collapse. Apparently we've stabilized somewhat.
4. Increased environmental regulation that took jobs of coal/steel workers.
5. A wage is not as important as it used to be. There are many ways to make money online or though other means now.
The point is, wages are up 20% from 1996 levels, so stop repeating the Sanders campaign nonsense :)
Edited 5/4/2020 14:16:58