Nice to see at least a slight reversal over the last 7 years of the 40 year trend of income inequality getting more extreme.

Interesting chart on real wages (so taking into account inflation). For the lowest wage decile, real wages have actually increased this pandemic. Meanwhile median real wages have fallen (as inflation has outpaced growth in wages).

But considering how the poor spend more on food relative to their income than higher income households which has had high inflation, and considering the poor have fewer means to hedge against inflation, this probably hasn't necessarily translated exactly perfectly to improved financial situations. Not to mention rent and housing price increases in recent years.

Red is the wages of the bottom 10% of wage earners. Green is the median of wage earners. Blue is the top 10% of wage earners. The dotted vertical line is the beginning of the pandemic. Inflation reduces the value of the wage, so real wages adjusts for that to reveal any wage increase or decrease after accounting for inflation's impact.

The red line went up during that period, while the other two lines fell. So the other two groups saw their real wages fall. And the low income group saw their real wages increase.

Also an interesting chart via Brookings. Real GDP (so accounting for inflation) has recovered fastest in the US this pandemic compared to the European countries here.

Though still below pre-pandemic trend. That's part of why I think the inflation story is more complicated than just simply pandemic stimulus. The pandemic has affected growth. You can see this in business investment, which is still below pre-pandemic trends even though overall demand is now back at pre-pandemic trends. And business inventories are still recovering, with imports having to fill the gap.