October 17, 2006
JUST WAIT'LL WE ADD ANOTHER 200 MILLION...:
The Average American: 1967 And Today (Tom Van Riper, 10.17.06, Forbes)
As the U.S. population crossed the 300 million mark sometime around 7:46 a.m. Tuesday (according to the U.S. Census Bureau), the typical family is doing a whole lot better than their grandparents were in 1967, the year the population first surpassed 200 million.Mr. and Mrs. Median's $46,326 in annual income is 32% more than their mid-'60s counterparts, even when adjusted for inflation, and 13% more than those at the median in the economic boom year of 1985. And thanks to ballooning real estate values, median household net worth has increased even faster. The typical American household has a net worth of $465,970, up 83% from 1965, 60% from 1985 and 35% from 1995.
Throw in the low inflation of the past 20 years, a deregulated airline industry that's made travel much cheaper, plus technological progress that's provided the middle class with not only better cars and televisions, but every gadget from DVD players to iPods, all at lower and lower prices, and it's obvious that Mr. and Mrs. Median are living the life of Riley compared to their parents and grandparents. [...]
The fact is that in real terms, the Medians are doing great. Mr. Median makes 25% more than his father did 30 years ago, even after holding for inflation. Mrs. Median is a lot more likely to work in the professional ranks than her mom was, and to be paid about three times as much doing so. And though she still makes only 77% of what her male counterparts earn, this is up from 33% in 1965. They dote on the same number of children (two), but waited longer to have them, until both careers are well under way. They also pay less tax to the federal government and have 8% more purchasing power than they did 20 years ago, including 5.7% more than they had just ten years ago.
But, if despite their prosperity, the Medians need some cheering up, there is one powerful person whose wage growth they have outpaced nicely over the last two generations.
When Lyndon Johnson occupied the White House in 1965, he earned $100,000 a year, or 14 times what the Medians earned. This year, George W. Bush will earn $400,000, or just eight times the Medians.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 17, 2006 1:56 PM
The scales don't mean anything anymore. I can spend three weeks in Tokyo, Japan for under $2000. The modern American's freedom of movement and time is staggering.
Posted by: Robert Mitchell Jr. at October 17, 2006 2:25 PMGiven my role here as the curmudgeon raining on the parade of those of you whistling past the graveyard....
Let me point out an interesting little bait and switch the writer plays here.
"Mr. and Mrs. Median" cleverly conflates household income in both 1967 and 2006 incomes. This masks the fact that much of that "growth" is due to a 2nd income.
Some of that 2nd income is by choice, as we have ATMs, fast food, prepared foods, and zillions of jobs for 2nd earners. OTOH, the obscene run up in the cost of government, particularly in education and the pensions of municipal employees is forcing dual incomes, which impacts the culture in other ways not necessarily measured in raw numbers.
The American drywall guy who used to make $15/hr can't afford his fishing trip anymore, but I'm sure he wishes you well as you take 3 weeks in Japan.
Seriously, I agree philisophically with virtually every major position of OJ and the posters on this blog, but do any of you actually ever talk anybody outside your narrow homogenous community?
Posted by: Bruno at October 18, 2006 9:20 AMBruno:
Are you under the impression that your Mother didn't do anything?
Meanwhile, your 60s drywaller had nbever flown anywhere, because it cost too much, while today's goes to Vegas for the weekend.
And, of course, the government is a smaller proportion of GDP today than then.
Talking to people is what makes youy mistakenly think life is hard. It's ridiculously easy.
Posted by: oj at October 18, 2006 9:40 AMOJ,
The point about my mother is well-taken. I don't know that it proves or disproves either of our points.
Re: Gov. If you add state local & Federal together, my bet is the total is larger, and even if not, Government is far more intrusive and expensive than it need be.
Posted by: Bruno at October 18, 2006 11:49 AMIt's exactly as expensive and intrusive as we want it, making it neither.
Posted by: oj at October 18, 2006 12:01 PMBruno, I wish I didn't have to talk to or be around people who think differently than I (we) do, but they are all too plentiful. Lucky for me, I can ignore and dismiss them as being wrong-headed and I wish you could do the same. I fear that you may do yourself some harm if you don't start tuning them out.
We as a society are doing so well that it's mind boggling that anyone could think differently and our expectations are elevated compared to years ago. Average Americans own their own homes, have two or more new vehicles, maybe a boat, or a fishing shack. Their kids wear new clothes in large part thanks to cheap stuff at the discount stores like Wal-Mart where they also shop for new toys and gadgets.
The world has never seen our like and yet we have allowed the left to convince us otherwise instead of believing our own eyes.