Study the following table for a moment:
It shows the distribution of household income by race. For EVERY racial group you see that the median income of households have gone up, rather substantially, since 1975. There have even been some fairly sizable gains since 1995. How can you square this data with the “conventional wisdom” that the typical worker is worse off today than they were 30 years ago, or even 10 years ago?
By the way, look at just how rich everyone is getting.
- Among whites, 14.8% of the households earned $75,000 or more in 1975. Today that number is 32.0%
- Among blacks, 4.9% of the households earned $75,000 or more in 1975. Today that number is 16.8%
- Among Hispanics 5.6% of the households earned $75,000 or more in 1975. Today that number is 19.4%
- Folks, this is ONLY talking about income, it excludes the value of non-wage benefits, which have seen an increase in the share of overall compensation over this time period.
Thinking about numbers like these makes it even less palatable to swallow the surge of socialism that has been wrought upon us by the current Administration, and that is sure to engulf us completely in the coming 8 years. But then this is the virtue of a democracy, isn’t it? We all seem to want it. I didn’t sign up for that, man.
However, the median household income for blacks is *still* a good $20,000 less than the median household income for whites, is it not? And the gap is not shrinking. Whites are getting richer much faster than blacks. So everyone gets rich, just some get rich faster than others.
I don’t see this as justification for the “surge of socialism” though. Especially given that, as you showed, we are all getting richer. Honestly if anything it means we need free markets more than ever! A return to classic liberalism and all that great stuff! Not even close to what the current parties are doing. If I could vote I’d go for Obama because I prefer him to McCain, and he’s got some smart people advising him on economic policy, but I wouldn’t be too happy about it.
Also, I personally think that the city schools need to be improved. I’m not saying they need more CASH, they have lots of that. Throwing a lot of money at a problem won’t always make it go away (hey, sometimes it works!) However, for whatever reason those schools are not meeting the needs of their students and that needs to be fixed.
I’m glad that you posted this chart. I read an article in Phi Kappa Phi’s quarterly journal where Jurgen Brauer, of Augusta State University, discussed his findings that the REAL wage rate of manufacturing jobs had gone up only marginally since 1960 if benefits were not considered. His conclusion was that the people in manufacturing jobs were put at an incurable disadvantage concerning their abilities to save. His blatant misinterpretation of inflation-adjusted wage rates will probably encourage a few more people to sulk in the false conventional wisdom that the rich keep getting richer, and that it’s because they steal from the blue-collared American.
I was also wondering about your stance on the bailout. I believe that I heard you on Wisconsin Public Radio saying that you wished that the bailout could be more consumer-aimed, rather than firm-aimed. After looking at your website and your political and economic ideology, I’m sure that it either must not have been you at all, or that Public Radio has some dirt on you that you can’t afford to let them get out. If you could set me straight, it would be very appreciated.
Thanks.
The article, by the way, was “Income, War, and Elections” in the Summer 2008 FORUM.