OUR PARENTS LIVED THE EASY LIFE:

All Worked Up (Edwin J. Feulner, July 16, 2004, Heritage.org)

Our economy has added 1.5 million jobs over the last 10 months. And as Heritage Foundation economist Timothy Kane wrote recently, “Since January 2001, American disposable incomes have risen by 7.5 percent, wages have risen by 2.4 percent, and the government projects 21 million good job opportunities over the 2002-2012 decade.”

These openings will include some “burger-flipping” jobs, of course, but nothing out of the ordinary. The Labor Department’s Occupational Outlook Quarterly projects 12 percent growth in the food industry over the next decade -- but that’s the same rate of growth it projects for the entire labor force. In other words, there will probably be zero real growth in “burger-flipping” jobs.

There will, however, probably be an increase in the number of Americans working for themselves. At least 7.5 million already do, and these jobs don’t show up in the payroll surveys used to tabulate employment numbers. There’s good reason, though, to suspect these workers are happy and prosperous. After all, polls confirm one of the most popular aspirations of Americans is to be their own boss.

Meanwhile, for those who decide to keep working for someone else, there should be plenty of growth in high-skill jobs. For example, the Labor Department projects a 45 percent increase in the number of software engineers, a 49 percent increase in the number of physician assistants, a 36 percent increase in the computer and information-systems sector and a 38 percent jump in the number of postsecondary teachers, to name just a few areas.

All those jobs should generate even more income growth, which would come on top of some amazing recent gains.

Since January 2001 real disposable income per person is up 7.5 percent. And annual real income per person has increased 5.2 percent, meaning the average person is taking home an extra $1,800 after inflation. According to Tim Kane, that’s enough for every American to buy an extra 900 gallons of gas.

Just as soon as someone buuilds a time machine we should make the next person who says the middle class has it harder now than they did several decades ago repeat that statement in front of a group of people transported here from the 70s. It'll look like a scene out of A Clockwork Orange.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 21, 2004 7:44 AM