Great minds think alike - as do Times reporters Steven Greenhouse and David Leonhardt.
Here's union reporter Greenhouse [1] in Monday's "ManyEntry-Level Workers Feel Pinch of Rough Market.": "Some labor experts say wage stagnation and the sharp increase in housing costs over the past decade have delayed workers ages 20 to 35 from buying their first homes."
In a more balanced piece from the Sunday Week in Review [2], "PocketsHalf Empty, or Half Full," David Leonhardt argues that "this remains a fabulously prosperous country," but also makes the same Times point about the somewhat arcane phenomenon (newly popular among Democrats looking for weaknesses in a strong economy this election year) of "wage stagnation."
"What seems clear from the recent data is that the United States has fallen into a new period of wage stagnation - a sequel to another such period lasting from the mid-1970's until the mid-1990's - that has begun to darken the public mood. In a New York Times/CBS News poll done last month, more than two-thirds of respondents said they thought that 'things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track' in this country."
TimesWatch reported on a Leonhardt flip-flop [3] on wages lastweek.