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| Economy |
| The Middle-Class Squeeze Isn't Made Up |
| 2017-02-16 |
| ...in which the writers at the National Review get caught on a "statistical sleight of hand." [Bloomberg] Benjamin Disraeli is reputed to have said “There are three type of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics.” Today let's address the third component of Disraeli's formulation in the context of a recent National Review article with the headline, “The Myth of the Stagnating Middle Class.” The article observes that “more Americans have easier lives today than in years past.” To regular readers, this is a variant of the assertion that “common folk live better today than royalty did in earlier times,” a claim we debunked two years ago. The current argument is more nuanced in that it: a) relies on a few statistical twists; b) contains statements that are true but don’t support the main claim; and c) is an argument against Donald Trump’s populism from the political right. It all has the general appearance of plausibility until you start digging. This is where we come in. Let’s begin with the claim that more Americans have easier lives today than in years past. This is true and almost always has been. Progress is humanity’s default setting ever since our ancestors climbed down from the trees and began walking upright on the African savanna. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the standard of living for all Americans has been rising for many years, mainly because of technological advances. However, the main issue under discussion is actually about how the economic benefits of the U.S. economy get apportioned across the populace. In other words, how the wealth is distributed. The National Review engages in a statistical sleight of hand that distracts from this. For further insight I spoke with Salil Mehta, who teaches at Columbia and Georgetown, and is perhaps best known for his role as the top numbers-cruncher in the federal government’s $700 billion TARP bank bailout plan in the financial crisis. Mehta made short work of the article: More at the link |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #9 From the Dimicrat perspective, there are two classes: The Vulture Class (the Dims) and Road Kill (the middle class). |
| Posted by: Phineth Thaving9104 2017-02-16 22:32 |
| #8 Careful to print it on 4ply charmin for appropriate reuse. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-02-16 17:32 |
| #7 Sorry, the Pew Research Report |
| Posted by: Bobby 2017-02-16 13:53 |
| #6 I've just printed the 74 page Pew report, titled "The American Middle Class is Losing Ground." I could have pulled any number of other 'headlines' off individual charts, but after scanning all the charts, I concluded the report - released December 9, 2015 - was toxic to the POTUS at the time. The middle class decline started about the time The One took office. Yes, the rich got richer, but the poor got richer, too. Only the middle class suffered. I'm going to work up half a dozen 'headlines' out of the one report as an example to the family. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2017-02-16 13:52 |
| #5 I made the unfortunate decision to get out the old inflation calculator from my MBA eco classes and applied it to my pay at various times in my life. I found that corrected for inflation I am making less now than I did when I was a GM-13 in Frankfurt. I also found out that my O-3 over 4 pay was pretty good in today's dollars. I then found out that the $63,000 I was making in 1998 is worth almost 20% more than what I make right now... So stagnation? It's real, decline in real income, you betcha. The statistics are simple. Get an inflation chart from anyone of several colleges, multiply your annual income in any particular year by the coefficients in the chart to correct to current dollars. You don't need a bunch of statistical folderol to see the middle class is in it up to their necks and struggling as the rich get richer and the welfare state feeds more and more from the higher and higher hidden taxes on the middle class. For instance...oil is selling for less than half what it was in 2010. So is gasoline selling for less than half? Nope, the Feds and the States raised gasoline taxes to cover the lost revenue stream. Buying grocery bags in California? Essentially a 10 cent a bag tax on groceries Notice how property taxes fluctuate? They have bled the middle class for years and really want to kill it off but then who pays the bills for all of these wonderful entitlement programs? |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2017-02-16 10:09 |
| #4 I'm lower middle class and have reacted to the squeeze by cancelling my subscription to National Review several years back. Not only saved money going in, didn't need to read their social climber BS, and saved on associated disposal costs. Ya do what ya gotta do. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2017-02-16 07:29 |
| #3 Guess that 'some' would be wrong. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-02-16 05:39 |
| #2 Depends on your definition of middle class, Skidmark. To some, middle class are white collar, public sector employees (+ academics) and that's all. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-02-16 04:18 |
| #1 Huh, ask any former Middle Classer turned sustenance laborer how tight the squeeze is. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-02-16 04:14 |