What is interesting is that during the 60s and 70s the ratio never got to be more than 78 times minimum wage and, speaking as someone who lived through that era, we were all pretty well off employment and wage wise. (Yes, you have to skip over the Viet Nam and Korean wars as they are separate discussions.) As recent as 2005 the ratio was over 820 times that of minimum wage. I think I can speak for most of us when I say 2005 wasn't anywhere near as good a time as the 60s and 70s for the average working stiff. We had a massive rush to offshore everything except the board of directors and executive management so both of those groups could make more money. Health insurance was priced out of reach for most people, and a bottom feeding 4-door family sedan was priced in the mid $20K range while a fully loaded 4-door family sedan was $4-6K during the 60s and 70s. Before those of you too young to remember this please read the following: