Jared Bernstein on middle-class incomes and productivity growth

Jared Bernstein has an interesting post over at his blog on why middle-class incomes stopped tracking productivity growth.  He says:

The diminished ability to bargain for their fair share of productivity growth is a major factor in the productivity/income split.  You may think I’m talking unions here, but I’m not. I’m talking high unemployment.

He shows that from 1947 to 1979, real median family income grew at about the same rate as productivity.  However, between 1979 and 2009, productivity grew at a much faster pace than real median family income.  He argues that real median family income and productivity stopped tracking between 1979 and 2009 due to "weak job markets, high unemployment, jobless recoveries, and therefore much diminished bargaining power for middle- and lower-income workers". 

He is always interesting to read.