Ssssh! Don’t tell anyone, people are better off.
We’ll tell this to you as long as you don’t pass it along. It will upset too many constituencies that have vested stakes in things being worse off than ever before. It turns out that new reports by the Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board on the economic well-being of the typical American family reveal that over the past three decades, the vast majority of families have experienced a rapid growth in their income and wealth. Virtually every income group (i.e., not just the rich) has been lifted by the tide of growth in recent decades. The percentage of families between $5k and $50k have been falling as more families move into higher income categories. What about the poor you ask? While it is true that the very low income group has been stuck between 2.3% and 3.6% one has to wonder if this group is a failing of macro-economic policy or more likely best addressed via education, crime and family initiatives.
Now don’t tell anyone.
h/t: WSJ
Others on this:
Cafe Hayek who hopes Krugman has a chance to read it before stating once again how we are no better off than a generation ago.
BizzyBlog “Doe Paul Krugman of the New York Times Read His Own Newspaper?”
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January 3rd, 2006 at 9:09 am
[…] nd Paul Krugman needs to get over it. _____________________________ UPDATE, Jan. 3, 2006: Independent Sources points to a publicly available post of the full Stephen Moore-Lincoln Anderson piece at […]
January 3rd, 2006 at 12:54 pm
It says the last three decades there has been improvement. I wonder if things have improved since the early 90’s?
January 3rd, 2006 at 5:10 pm
If you pretend that the budget deficeit does not exist and that the goverment can continue deferring taxes to future generations with no negative impact, then you’re right. Whether you credit the Clinton administration or the end of the Cold War for the deficeit-killing boom of the 90’s, there’s no sign that another major expansion is around the corner to turn around today’s massive deficeits.
You should also notice that Bush is lowering taxes on the wealthiest while cutting back on programs for the middle class, including student loans. That’s a key change in policy from the past that will hurt the lower and middle classes over time.
January 3rd, 2006 at 10:05 pm
“It says the last three decades there has been improvement. I wonder if things have improved since the early 90’s?”
As they say, numbers don’t lie, statistics do. One trick that is used in building a case for desired policies is to carefully pick beginning and end points covered in a study. Recessions skew numbers greatly. That is why I liked this study, it covered 30 years making the impact of picking a particular start/finish time less impactful. It also sidestepped the issue of who gets the credit as it spanned many administrations–Republican and Democratic.
“You should also notice that Bush is lowering taxes on the wealthiest while cutting back on programs for the middle class, including student loans. That’s a key change in policy from the past that will hurt the lower and middle classes over time.”
I agree the deficit needs to be reeled in but the way to address that is by cutting spending and not via growth killing tax increases. Also the tax cuts have been across the board–not just for the rich. Left-leaning writers made a big deal about the dividend tax cut benefiting only the rich when in fact the majority of Americans own stocks–particularly mutual funds who are the big owners of dividend paying stocks. What will hurt the middle and lower class over time more than anything is lack of jobs. Economic policy should be about job creation and then letting the market for desired skills determine the relative wages. Do we need to go back to the days where people were graduating with college degrees but with no one interested in hiring them? Of course if we are interested in seeing how the opposite approach works (high taxes and high public sector) we can look at France and see how well they are doing.
January 8th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
[…] t majority of [Read More] Tracked on Jan 1, 2006 1:36:35 PM » Ssssh! Dont tell anyone, people are better off. from Independent Sources Well tell this to you as long as […]
January 25th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
[…] nd Paul Krugman needs to get over it. _____________________________ UPDATE, Jan. 3, 2006: Independent Sources points to a publicly available post of the full Stephen Moore-Lincoln Anderson piece at […]
February 24th, 2006 at 1:22 am
While seaching for more income research I stumble across a reference to Census and Fed reports about income and wealth atindependentsources.com but they link to johnbatchelorshow.com which is copy of an op-ed piece from The Wall Street Journal. (Unfornately neither site links to the actual reports.) But this quote from the op-ed caught my eye:
October 12th, 2006 at 3:25 am
. Two out of three Americans, in fact. Because our employment rate is historically high, rates of mortgage foreclosure and delinquencies are still low in historic terms. The majority of Americans are stock owners, too, either directly or though their mutual funds or 401k plans. Which is another reason to celebrate Dow Jones’ record close. “But make no mistake about it, this is very positive news at minimum from a psychological standpoint as investors are looking at
February 19th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
[…] and Paul Krugman needs to get over it. _____________________________ UPDATE, Jan. 3, 2006: Independent Sources points to a publicly available post of the full Stephen Moore-Lincoln Anderson piece at […]
January 19th, 2008 at 10:59 am
[…] income research I stumble across a reference to Census and Fed reports about income and wealth at independentsources.com but they link to johnbatchelorshow.com which is copy of an op-ed piece from The Wall Street […]