Thank you for that straightforward analysis.

In the U.S., at least, the period of wage growth paralleling growth in productivity coincides with the period of big, strong unions. Crises have been used to break and further weaken the place of unions in the economy. At the same time, members of unions were being persuaded that government is their enemy and Big Business has their best interests at heart.

I do have an alternative model to offer: the existing economy, but with an “allotted income” that would form the supply of money (as currency) for the economy. If it matters, I do have an M.A. in economics.

That way of supplying the economy with money would make the economy self-regulating while providing the means to eliminate unemployment and poverty. The same process could be used to fund government (from central to local), eliminating the need for taxes/public debt. Sustainability would be increased because total output would be governed by demographics, and only that. The amount of the allotted income would be based on the current median income.

At the bottom of the economy, instead of individuals competing for jobs employers would use benefits to compete for employees. Their income would be that allotted income, which would also be paid to adults too incapacitated to work and all citizens of retirement age. It could also be paid to (at least) one parent (or legal guardian) in a household with at least one dependent child living there. Everyone making more than that amount of income would continue to be paid as at present.

A brief (“5 min read”) summary of the proposal is here in Medium.