# AI's PR Problem > Source: > Published: 2026-06-02 15:00:00+00:00 | The college wage premium, that is, the increased earnings associated with having a college degree as opposed to only being a high school graduate, hasn’t changed at all in the past 25 years, because median real wages have been flat as a pancake foreverybody, no matter what their formal education level, for the past quarter century. I wonder what’s happened to capital over this time? Value of S & P 500, inflation-adjusted, 1/2000 to 9/2025 (same period as the wage data):On average, for 2000: $1,394 2025: $6,688 I was fooling around withHere is a short list of YouTube videos on this topic:[FRED]this morning, as one does, and here are some stats: (The FRED numbers are presented in nominal dollars; I’ve converted them to CPI-adjusted dollars). Median usual weekly earnings of workers with a high school degree only: 2000: $968 2025: $980 Median usual weekly earnings of workers with a bachelor degree only: 2000: $1,587 2025: $1,580 ... Median usual weekly earnings of people with a bachelor’s degree or higher: 2000: $1,705 2025: $1,747