# The Great Wage Stagnation

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068/the-great-wage-stagnation
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068/the-great-wage-stagnation.md
Podcast: [Optimist Economy](https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068)
Published: 2026-04-21T08:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_14811_bdd2fe6e-4855-418c-b6e9-1df6dbb6baee&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F14811%2Ffeed-rss.xml
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/sblTq32fyWAjsHzze2LG/dovetail.prxu.org/14811/bdd2fe6e-4855-418c-b6e9-1df6dbb6baee/260421_OE_213_Wages_Final.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/optimist-economy-7257068/episodes/the-great-wage-stagnation
Duration seconds: 2814

## Resource

Average U.S. wages have barely budged since the early '80s — and if you account for today's labor force being older and more college-educated, wage growth basically disappears. Economists have cycled through explanations: workers lacked technical skills, then couldn't compete with global labor, then lost the policies that once lifted paychecks, like strong unions and a meaningful minimum wage. The latest chapter is monopsony — the idea that as employers consolidate, people have fewer choices of where to work, and fewer places to land if they lose a job. Fix the market, and the paychecks follow. Chapters : 00:00:45 Announcements 00:01:01 Retcon: Double Taxation and Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act 00:03:10 Terms & Conditions: Monopsony, Septel 00:07:07 Big Pilcrow: Why Aren’t Wages Growing? 00:40:37 Executive Orders: Reverse Billing, Leaked Chat Table Readings 00:42:49 Spiritual Sponsors: Dole Whip, Sad Songs, Being Recognized in the Wild Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com Follow us on Instagram at ⁠⁠ @optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠ @optimist_economy . Chat with other Optimists on Substack. Andy says look at the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠ . Get that excellent hat at: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy Got economic anxieties, executive orders or spiritual sponsors? Send them to optimist.economy@gmail.com

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