Reading the headlines, it’s happy days again.
In February, employers added 242,000 jobs.
Pretty good, right?
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Well, unfortunately, there’s a rub …
Archive for the ‘Income – Earnings’ Category
About February’s great jobs report …
March 7, 2016Bloomberg: There’s a gender gap in MBA pay … and, it’s a big deal!
November 4, 2015Biennially, Bloomberg (Business Week) ranks MBA schools based, in part, on surveys of employers, current students, and alumni.
This year, they used the alumni sample to assess career progression – how well MBAs are doing (and getting paid) a few years after their b-school graduation.
The general finding: “The data shows that 6 to 8 years after graduation, the typical alum makes $169,000 … triple their pre-MBA compensation.”
That’s pretty good, right?
But, there’s a big divide.
“Within a few years of graduation, women with MBAs earn lower salaries, manage fewer people, and are less pleased with their progress than men with the same degree.”
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What the heck is going on?
How many millionaires & billionaires are there in the US ?
December 4, 2012
Based on a very rigorous analysis by Robert Wolff of NYU …
Scored in constant 1995 dollars – i.e. eliminating the effects of inflation …
- Roughly 6.5% of US households – about 7.5 million — have a net worth greater than $1 million.
- That’s up 5.25% since 2007 … an increase from 6.3% of households
- But, the number of households with net worth greater than $5 million declined by 27.5% from 2007
- And, the number of households with net worth greater than $10 million declined by 25% from 2007
Bottom line: More millionaires … but they have fewer millions.
Source: Wolff, NYU, Asset Price Meltdown and Wealth of the Middle Class
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What’s the best indicator of how much you’ll earn ?
March 7, 2012Answer : How much your parents earned.
There’s about a .5 “intergenerational earnings correlation” in the U.S.
That means, look at how much your folks earned and you have a good idea re: how much you’ll be earning.
Causation, or just correlation ?
Well, there’s a causal variable in there.
Children of high earning parents tend to get better educations … much better educations.
Reported by the New America Foundation
How close are you to the evil 1%?
December 8, 2011Note: Based on 2009 tax year filing data, the Internal Revenue Service says an adjusted gross income, or AGI, of $343,927 or more will put you in the top 1 percent of taxpayers.
The WSJ has a cool interactive … plug in your household income (which is a higher number than AGI) and it pegs your percentile.
For example, the WSJ says …
- $100,000 puts you in the 81st percentile
- $150,000 puts you in the 89th percentile
- $200,000 puts you in the 94th percentile
- $250,000 puts you in the 96th percentile
- $507,000 puts you in the 99th percentile
Average real earnings are declining for college grads … but quant jocks still getting fat paychecks.
November 14, 2011College grads’ average real earnings have declined almost 20% in the past decade.
But, there are some college grads still ringing the cash register.
According to PayScale.com:
If you’re determined to find a job that pays top dollar, you’d be wise to study math and science.
Lucrative careers exist for the history, English and foreign language majors out there, too, but they’re harder to find.
But, all’s not rosy … browse the bottom rungs, too.
The top of the list
The bottom of the list
College grads: low unemployment, but declining earnings …
November 11, 2011Earlier this week, we posted that only 4.5% of college grads are unemployed … a lot lower percentage than you’d think given the coverage of the Wall Street Occupiers.
There is a flipside, though.
Mean real earnings for college grads have fallen by almost 20% over the past decade … reflecting salary caps at many companies and a re-mixing towards lower paying jobs.
Suggests that the ROI on college is going down, down, down
About the rich … and the impact of taxes
December 24, 2010Great analysis presented in the WSJ.
Key is the chart below which takes official IRS data for the top 1% of pre-tax-earners, adjusts for inflation (by stating all years in constant 2008 dollars), and breaks income into it’s components
The key points:
1) Business income is roughly 25% of reported income
2) Average inflation-adjusted salary has stayed pretty flat.
3) Until the crash in 2008, capital gains grew … note: cap gains tax rates were reduced in 2003 .. coincidence?
4) Similarly, dividends increased after the dividend tax rate was cut to 15% … another coincidence?
The mega-point of the analysis is that behavioral economics is alive and well … dink with marginal rates and folks will simply shift income … causing an inverse relationship between marginal tax rates and tax receipts.
Just do the the math.
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Full article is a worthwhile read:
WSJ,Taxes and the Top Percentile Myth, Dec. 23, 2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703581204576033861522959234.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h
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