According to CoinMeta, wages in the United States dropped to 43% of national income in the first quarter of 2026, the lowest level since the Great Depression. Some attribute this to Nixon's decision in 1971 to sever the final link between the dollar and gold. Despite the decline in wage levels, American workers' wages and salaries still increased by 3.2% over the past 12 months. Data from the Economic Policy Institute shows that productivity has grown by 93.2% since the end of 1979, while hourly wages have only increased by 33.7%. This indicates that despite a significant increase in worker productivity, wage growth has not kept up.