One thing I have wondered is if enterprise software (like CRM and ERP packages; process automation stuff) is actually helping the common man. The theory is that all this enterprise software makes large companies more efficient by cutting their costs. Then since these large companies are so competitive, they will pass on the savings to the consumer by cutting the prices of goods/services. Thus consumers can more easily afford higher quality lives.
But it seems like in the past 20 years, prices have stayed the same or gone up, employee salaries have stayed the same or gone down, but executive pay packages have sky rocketed. Does this mean that all the innovation and "wealth" created by enterprise software is just making the rich more money?
How can you say prices have stayed the same or gone up? In 1996 I paid $2300 for a 486 with 16mb of RAM. A month ago I paid only $1700 for a Core 2 Quad with 4gb of RAM. Seven years ago a 50 inch plasma cost $10k.
Even outside electronics, which experiences persistent price deflation (and hence rising volume), prices are not rising as fast as wages. In constant 1990 dollars, gasoline cost $1.10/gal in SF in 1987. This rose to $1.66 (1990 dollars) in 2007. (http://www.mtc.ca.gov/maps_and_data/datamart/stats/gasprice....) Median wages in the same period rose from $14,498.74 to $23.962.20. (http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html) $1.66/$1.10 = ~1.51 ... $23,962.20/$14.498.74 = ~1.65. Even gas is getting cheaper.
As random anecdotal evidence on food. My dad told me he started his career 33 years ago at $4.10/hr, and finished it in 2006 at closer to $40/hr, at the same company, without climbing into upper management. When he started, a week's worth of groceries cost him about $25-30. Now, they cost around $75-100. A threefold increase in the cost of food, but a tenfold increase in his income.
Sure, the sticker price may go up, but over the long run in a growing economy, wages increase just as fast, if not faster.
To what prices are you referring? Computers, VCRs, air travel, refrigerators, TVs, dishwashers, books? People today can buy more of almost everything than they could 20 years ago.
But it seems like in the past 20 years, prices have stayed the same or gone up, employee salaries have stayed the same or gone down, but executive pay packages have sky rocketed. Does this mean that all the innovation and "wealth" created by enterprise software is just making the rich more money?