I’d be interested in the same information. Any idea how to aquire good data to construct that correlation?

Unlike in the past, when bond vigilantes could set prices by going on strike when they saw interest rates they did not like, today’s players are not acting like bond vigilantes at all.

The present circumstance appears to be a lull where many, including central bankers, are deceived by successful and even oversubscribed debt auctions. But in reality this is only saying that the demand for bonds presently exceeds supply, not that the price of these bonds is appealing. As noted, price is not being considered by most buyers. Supply and demand for bonds can shift rapidly, with the biggest source of the shift likely being private and public retirement funds in much of the aging developed world, which are going from being bond buyers to bond sellers.

Whereas in the past, undersubscription could be cured by a simple uptick in the interest rate offered, the next time that a sovereign debt auction comes up significantly undersubscribed, we are likely to find that new buyers are not suddenly drawn in. The majority of buyers will have been non-economic buyers who are tapped out. They were not waiting on the sidelines, bond vigilante-style, for an uptick in interest rates, for they were on autopilot and will have purchased their quota already.

Belief in efficient markets seems to still run strong at central banks. In fact, even if actively managed bond funds have some skill, they cannot set prices if the market is dominated by non-economic players.

The result will likely be a sharp inflationary flare-up that takes many by surprise, including our very own Ben Bernanke.

Good point; it only makes me MORE interested to examine the relationship between mean wages and productivity. It could be that wide-scale layoffs function to increase correlation between wages and productivity. Of course, I keep saying ‘could be’ or ‘might’ and really have nothing to show for it, but these questions make me feel like just looking at wages, nominal or real, leaves us with still not as good of data as we’d like.

In my case, I was retained while employees with greater senority were laid off. Ultimately though I had to be sacrificed before someone with greater senority turned a lawyer loose on the company. (Know how good that made me feel?)

To this day, I feel that the company I worked for acted ethically and compassionately. The remaining employees have been required more of but their compensation has not been molested. All because of good corporate stewardship and decency.

Thanks for the addition though. I used to think that only the dead wood was cleared. I think differently now.

It seems unlikely that they’ll give raises twice in 2010, so it’s entirely possible my salary may be stuck at 9/08 levels until 2011.

And of course my income is lower, in non-inflation-adjusted terms, than it was in 2001.

Sure looks like we’re being groomed for our new owners,,,the Chinese! It’s not so bad for the beneficiaries of taxpayer bailout money. Worst possibility for those fat cats is a bruised ego, not living under a bridge and eating from garbage cans.