Anemic wage growth is nothing new—American workers have had to contend with stagnant wages for decades. From 1973 to 2014, the hourly pay (wages and benefits) of typical workers increased only 9.2 percent over 41 years (after adjusting for inflation). Over this same period, net productivity (how much workers produce per hour) rose 72.2 percent. This means that although Americans are working more productively than ever, the fruits of their labors have primarily accrued to managers and executives at the top of the pay scale and to corporate profits. In contrast, for two-and-a-half decades beginning in the late 1940s, the pay of typical workers rose in tandem with productivity.