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Monday Bonus Video!

2015-06-08 · letter vlog · John · 3:49 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Economics (also: Books & writing, Projects) · mode: Explainer · tags: self promotion, civic or action cta

In a four-part bonus video John announces Paper Towns movie tour stops in Europe and a US tour chosen by Tumblr vote, the debut of the Dear Hank and John podcast, and answers Hank on the decoupling of wages and productivity: wealth inequality is one of the biggest US issues, but history is too short for confident economics and the outcome is still ours to decide.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; Part 1, Europe: Paper Towns movie events in Berlin (sold out), Paris and London next week

00:00:43 — Part 2: the Dear Hank and John podcast debuts on iTunes and SoundCloud; this week's topics

  • ★★★ The brothers' new podcast Dear Hank and John, which John prefers to think of with his name first, has debuted on iTunes and SoundCloud. — 00:00:45 · Dear Hank and John
  • ★★ This week's (week of 8 June 2015) episode asks whether bowling can heal a broken heart and whether people have peed on every square inch of earth, plus news from Mars and AFC Wimbledon. (playful) — 00:00:53 · Dear Hank and John, Mars, AFC Wimbledon

00:01:09 — Part 3: US tour in July with Nat and Cara, states chosen by Tumblr votes at papertownsmovie.com/tour

  • ★★★ John, Nat and Cara will tour the US in July, visiting the states with the most votes at papertownsmovie.com/tour, where one Tumblr like or reblog counts as one vote, until June 15. — 00:01:10 · United States, Tumblr, Paper Towns (film)
  • ★ John admits he is rooting for Indiana and Montana but will accept any other outcome. (playful) — 00:01:32 · Indiana, Montana

00:01:37 — Part 4: the decoupling of wages and productivity, wealth inequality, the Engels pause, the tiny sample size of history, and John's view

  • ★★★ Pointing to a graph, John says that since World War II wages and productivity were closely correlated until about 2000, when they decoupled: productivity surged while wages stayed stagnant. — 00:01:49
    • a number in question (doubtful): "about 2000" — check against the recording
  • ★★★ John says the decoupling is a big part of the dramatic rise in US wealth disparity over about the last 20 years; the richest 1% of Americans control about 40% of total wealth. — 00:02:02 · economic inequality, United States
  • ★★★ John calls this inequality bad morally, economically and socially: decreasing economic mobility means the most talented and innovative people are less likely to get chances to start businesses and create jobs. — 00:02:13 · economic inequality
  • ★★★ John notes the graph only goes back to 1947; going back to the Industrial Revolution shows a similar decoupling, which economist Robert Allen calls the Engels pause, lasting several decades until wages shot up. — 00:02:28
  • ★★★ John says we might be in another Engels pause amid a technological revolution, or something entirely different may be happening, because history's sample size is tiny. (hedged) — 00:02:41
  • ★★ John says for almost all of the last 10,000 years nearly everyone was a farmer or hunter-gatherer; only in about the last 300 years have many people had non-farm wage jobs. — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ That lack of historical precedent makes John skeptical of almost anyone who expresses confidence about fiscal policy or economic history. — 00:03:08
  • ★★★ John thinks wealth inequality is one of the biggest US issues and the wage-productivity decoupling very worrying, but we are mid-history and can collectively decide whether declining mobility is permanent. (hedged) — 00:03:18 · economic inequality, United States
  • ★ John adds that he might be wrong, quipping that the possibility you might be wrong is the very definition of economics. (playful, hedged) — 00:03:33

00:03:37 — Asks for thoughts; reminder to vote for a state; hopes to see Europeans next week; sign-off

  • ★★ John asks Hank and Nerdfighters for more of their thoughts on wages and productivity (the description invites continuing in comments). — 00:03:37 · Nerdfighteria

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The Paris stop of the Paper Towns tour is a meet and greet on June 17 at 6:30 pm at the Librairie de Paris. — video description
  • ★ The Berlin event is fully booked; Fox's German account @FoxDeutschland will announce any further tickets. — video description
  • ★★ A special Paper Towns event is coming to London very soon, with details from @UKPaperTowns. — video description · London
  • ★★ The US leg, where viewers' votes decide where Cara, Nat and John go, is called the #GetLostGetFound tour; FAQs are on John's Tumblr. — video description · Tumblr

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Dear Hank and John · decoupling of wages from productivity · economic inequality · Paper Towns (film)

Also: People: Cara Delevingne · Nat Wolff · Robert C. Allen · Sarah Urist Green

Organizations: AFC Wimbledon · SoundCloud · Tumblr · Twitter

Concepts: economics · Engels' pause · social mobility

Places: Berlin · Europe · Germany · Indiana · London · Mars · Montana · Paris · United States

Events: Industrial Revolution · World War II

Products: iTunes

Only in the description or credits: 20th Century Fox (studio) · Librairie de Paris

Also centred on decoupling of wages from productivity: Just for Nerdfighters

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