On Aug 17, 4:13*pm, bpuharic wrote:
On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:52:39 -0700 (PDT), Jack
wrote:
On Aug 17, 6:36*am, bpuharic wrote:
On Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:08:43 -0400, wrote:
BTW isn't "30 years ago" about when you say the middle class started
getting screwed.
37 actually.
The middle class is shrinking because the upper class is growing
Steve Horwitz from the Austrian Economists blog writes:
really? there are 20,000,000 millionaires in the US?
and how does this relate to the fact the middle class hasnt had a
raise in 37 years?
The reality, as it turns out, is different. From 1980 to 2006, the
percentage of US households earning $100,000 or more (in constant 2006
dollars) grew from 8.6% to 19.1
and what percentage of this was accounted for by a growth in dual
income families? care to answer?
The percentage between $75k and
$100K grew from 10.3 to 11.3 percent
IOW no growth...
. At the other end, the percentage
under $15K fell from 16.6% to 13.4% and the percentage between $15K
and $34K fell from 26.2% to 23.3%. Thus all three categories below
$35K fell a total of 6.1 percentage points.
a few percentage...hardly any change at all.
The middle classes fell too, though by less. The sum total across the
$35K to $75K categories fell by 5.4 percentage points. In other words:
the net movement of households was an 11.5 percentage point gain in
households above $75K and a net reduction of 11.5 percentage points in
houses below $75K. So the percentage above $75K rose from 18.9% to
30.4%. That is, it increased by over 50%.
Let me repeat that: over 30% of US households in 2006 earned above
$75K compared to under 20% in 1980
and what percentage of these changes can be related to differences in
composition of houselholds, 2 income families, etc?
well, actually...quite alot:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Househo...ited_States#Ho...
"From 1969 to 1996, median household income rose a very modest 6.3
percent in constant dollars... The 1969 to 1996 stagnation in median
household income may, in fact, be largely a reflection of changes in
the size and composition of households rather than a reflection of a
stagnating economy."- John McNeil, US Census Bureau
===============
so what we see is that middle class income grew hardly at all...and
those changes that DID occur were largely due to women entering the
workforce in greater numbers.
haha... you really need to learn to read for content. From the same
wiki page, just above your quote:
"While household income has *increased*, its growth has been slowed by
a *decrease* in married-couple households who tend to have two earners
and, therefore, higher incomes. While the proportion of wives working
year-round in married couple households with children has increased
from 17% in 1967 to 39% in 1996, the *proportion* of such households
among the general population has *decreased*." (fewer two-income
households)
"In 1969, more than 40% of all households consisted of a married
couple with children. By 1996 only a rough quarter of US households
consisted of married couples with children. As a result of these
changing household *demographics*, median household income rose
relatively slowly despite an ever increasing female labor force and a
*considerable* increase in the percentage of college
graduates." (higher incomes, more females, but fewer dual income
households)
Your statement that "those changes that DID occur were largely due to
women entering the workforce in greater numbers." is completely
opposite of your own cites viewpoint!!
They are saying that the reason it rose slowly is "changing household
demographics", namely that there are LESS two-income households!
Your own quote: "The 1969 to 1996 stagnation in median
household income may, in fact, be largely a reflection of changes in
the *size* and *composition* of households *rather* than a reflection
of a
stagnating economy." completely DISPROVES your false assertion that it
is because of stagnant wages. Rather, it's "changes in the size and
composition of households rather than a reflection of a stagnating
economy." YOUR OWN QUOTE!!!
Wow. Just... wow. I'm done.