Initially that exploitation was of labour. So, we saw unions broken. Then we saw outsourcing, and the suppression of wages as a consequence. After that we have had the gig economy, and so on. The result has been that the share of wages within total national income has fallen significantly. When once that share was well over 60%, it now only just makes up 50% of GDP. The shift of reward from labour to capital has been enormous. No wonder so many people feel that they are not better off despite the supposed growth in the economy. They are right. They have been conned. Their labour has been captured by others who have taken the rewards for themselves.
Twat.
The wage share is the wrong thing to be looking at. The wage share, plus taxes paid upon employment plus other forms of labour compensation make up the labour share. NI has increased, pensions contributions have and so on. The wage share as a portion of the labour share has fallen.
The economy as a whole is the labour share plus mixed income – all those self-employed – plus subsidies to production and taxes upon consumption (VAT has doubled, you know?) and then last comes the capital share. The labour share has fallen, yes, as the mixed and subsidies/taxes have risen. After the recovery from the unsustainable 70s there’s no particular rise in the capital share.
He’s been saying this, wrongly, for at least a decade now. Even for him this is long enough to get it right, isn’t it?