Declining worker power versus rising monopoly power: Explaining recent macro trends - Lawrence H. Summers

June 20, 2020, Opinion: "Since the early 1980s, the US has seen a falling labour share and slow wage growth for typical workers, while measures of corporate valuations and measured markups have increased. A number of papers have argued that increasing monopoly or monopsony power can explain these trends. This column argues instead that the decline in worker power in the US economy is a more compelling explanation for recent macro trends than a broad-based rise in monopoly power."

HKS Faculty Author - Lawrence Summers