[Chi-Town]

From MarketWatch

6 years in, the economic recovery finally reaches middle-class American

Data from the Census Department show an economy that's recovering from the crisis and deep recession.

New data showing middle-class household incomes growing at the fastest rate since the recession seemed to confirm that a recovery that's remained grudgingly slow and uneven is finally touching the lives of ordinary Americans.

Millions of Americans escaped poverty last year and incomes rose at their biggest gain ever, as the 6-year long economic recovery finally hit home for households. Median middle-class wages surged 5.2% between 2014 and 2015, the Census Department said.

[Allegiance]

The Census Bureau lists 15 sources of household income.

1. Earnings
2. Unemployment compensation
3. Workers’ compensation
4. Social security
5. Supplemental security income
6. Public assistance
7. Veterans’ payments
8. Survivor benefits
9. Disability benefits
10. Pension or retirement income
11. Interest
12. Dividends
13. Rents, royalties, and estates and trusts
14. Educational assistance
15. Alimony
16. Child support
17. Financial assistance from outside of the household
18. Other income

The report doesn’t break out the dollar amount of any source other than earnings. Since earnings did not account for the 5.2% gain in household income, what did? None of these other sources could have been the source. Virtually none of them would have increased by that much, and none of them would apply to more than a fraction of total households. Therefore they would not have had much impact on the median of all households.

Given these facts, the 5.2% increase is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” Churchill used that phrase to describe politics in the Soviet Union. I think that’s an apt analogy for US government statistics.

Assuming that 5.2% increase wasn’t just a fabrication or a data error, I’m still wondering, where it came from. It’s not earnings and not the increase in the number of men and women working. It’s not the other sources of income. By deduction, there could only be one source of the increase– an increase in household size. For instance, if Junior is making $28,000 a year working as an assistant manager at McDonald’s, and he or she decides that the rent is too damn high, he moves back in with Mom and Dad. Voila, if household income increases by 50% in 6% of households, that would account for the increase not caused by the increase in individual earnings.

Does that mean that households were actually doing better 5.2% better?

No. But the headlines sound good.

Yeah, that’s the ticket.

[Quietman]

Good post - this is exactly what I heard on TV news analysis.

[Allegiance]

Look for more magical statistics to be released.

[Chi-Town]

Originally Posted by Allegiance

Look for more magical statistics to be released.

There is a dark cloud in every silver lining to some.

[goodtimesintv]

I do not consider THIS "good news" for our kids and future grandchildren!

Anyone who thinks this is good news should be ashamed!








US Debt Clock :: National Debt of United States

[Chi-Town]

Originally Posted by goodtimesintv

I do not consider THIS "good news" for our kids and future grandchildren!

Anyone who thinks this is good news should be ashamed!








US Debt Clock :: National Debt of United States

Incomes rising, poverty lessening, and more people with access to healthcare. Can't get worse news than that.

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by Chi-Town

Incomes rising, poverty lessening, and more people with access to healthcare. Can't get worse news than that.

[dewilson58]

More numbers................from the Census Department:

[graciegirl]

You can spot a persons party affiliation on this forum very easily.

[golfing eagles]

I hope it really is good news, but I have some concern that 1 good month can't wipe out 7 1/2 bad years, especially since the lesson of history is that statistics don't lie, people lie with statistics

[JoelJohnson]

When is all this debt due?
If I borrowed $1,000,000 when I was 21, when would I have to pay it back?
The answer is that it would be in the terms of the loan, which would have to be within my life span.
The US can borrow for a very very long time, since it does not have a life span.
The US does have a time frame to pay off current loans, 1 year, 10 year 30 year or whatever. But it can always borrow more ... forever.
Only when the country fails can the creditors come collect the assets or at least whats left of them.

[JoelJohnson]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

More numbers................

Where did this chart come from?

[Chi-Town]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

You can spot a persons party affiliation on this forum very easily.

Good news vs. bad news.

[l2ridehd]

This article came from market watch which is the most liberal left leaning news source available today. Probably a Rex Nutting article. I wouldn't believe anything I saw there. They are such a biased news source that even MSNBC said they couldn't rely on them as an information source. Most of the information they present is so distorted that nothing they publish can be believed.