I wonder how this article was pitched. Strange messaging, turning the news of private equity hoovering up HVAC companies into plumbers getting rich? Surely private equity will do what it always does, drive up prices, drive down quality, and bail out leaving behind a mess if or when it suits them. It also seems pretty funny to call it a “class” when they’re referring to a few dozen business owners, not really trades workers.
Did the plumbers getting rich meme start with Joe the Plumber? My cynical hypothesis is that it’s a movement to steer people away from college fearing a hollowing out of the working class and higher wages if everyone’s university educated. Are there other reasons this talking point keeps circling? Googling multiple sources shows plumbers making an average of $60k/year which is lower than the average teacher salary in the US. Neither of those classes is getting rich and both are feeling the squeeze of inflation, no doubt being contributed to by private equity.
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