Evidence based on US government statistics indicates that the rate of profit fell and employees’ share of output was trendless between 1970 and the Great Recession. This paper defends that evidence by showing that it is compatible with phenomena that may initially seem to contradict it; that is, rising income inequality and rising managerial compensation. While some other studies claim that managers’ compensation and the ‘class’ rate of profit skyrocketed, this paper shows that these studies seriously overestimate managers’ pay, and the share of their pay that can be construed as capital income (disguised dividends) rather than as genuine labour compensation.
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