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“Productivity and pay: is the link broken?” In the book launched on Weds @PIIE #LowProductivityLaunch, @LHSummers and I investigate whether US productivity growth benefits typical workers. Since I wasn't on Twitter when we first wrote it, here's a thread:
piie.com/publications/w…
piie.com/publications/w…
When people ask “has pay kept up with productivity” they may be asking one of 3 questions:
(1) Has the pay of workers on average kept up with productivity?
(2) Has the pay of the “typical” worker kept up with productivity?
(3) If productivity growth rises, does pay rise? 2/
(1) Has the pay of workers on average kept up with productivity?
(2) Has the pay of the “typical” worker kept up with productivity?
(3) If productivity growth rises, does pay rise? 2/
On (1), the answer is “mostly”. Since 90s/2000s there has been a small divergence between average pay and productivity (size depending on your choice of inflation measure and whether you use gross or net productivity). This is the analog of the fall in the labor share 3/ 
