A Higher Standard of Living? SOL or SOB?
Aricool - "can anyone cite solid stats evidencing a drop in the US standard of living since the GFC? "
The Nattering One: Cmon now, you know better and I can go one better than the GFC. Real median household income has declined 8% since 1998. That's 18 years with an 8% income decline. Tag a real inflation rate of 7 to 11% annual on that. I have cited and linked to those stats many a time in my missives, seek and yea shall find.
We are frogs in the proverbial pot. Our standard of living has and is declining rapidly. All that technology, connectivity and gadgets, don't mean squat. It's not getting better all the time, that's for pollyanna's and the feeble minded, who's numbers are growing. Those millenials still living at home, their children, have a name, the first US 3rd world citizens, have already been born.
Aricool - "yes, it is well known the incomes have dropped but that, of course, is not the same as the average standard of living going down. As you well know, there are so many confounding factors that income useless as a proxy for such; e.g., vastly cheaper food, automation, gadgets, creature comforts, much higher welfare lifts more out of poverty which is funded by massively higher productivity, etc. Just the soaring obesity rate tells me that SoL has likely gone up as measured by food affordability.
So, I am assuming that there is a connection between SoL and happiness up to a certain minimum level. This tells me the dropping incomes likewise would not affect happiness so much, esp. if people are getting enough of the creature comforts, social status, and ability to enjoy life, despite lower income, as afforded by net national productivity and technology advances."
The Nattering One muses... "vastly cheaper food, automation, gadgets, creature comforts, technology advances"
I don't know where you get your food or pay your bills, but mine and everything else, outside of consumer electronics and electro domestics, especially medical care and any form of insurance, is vastly more expensive every year.
I will come back to that later and again, the gadgets, technology and creature comforts, don't mean squat. I have cited numerous statistics in past missives and have proved that our SOL is lower today.
We have employed empirical methods, not once, not twice, but thrice in the past decade, in 2005, 2007 and 2014. If that is what you like, try the latest It's Getting Better? 1, It's Getting Better 2, It's Getting Better 3, It's Getting Better 4 and It's Getting Better 5.
Today however, I choose to employ another method, anecdotal and common sense in nature. Now put down that smart phone and let's take a trip...
Who cares about the new industrial light microwave, LEDTV and smart phone, some of us actually know how the world managed to function and get along before video gaming, wi-fi, internet, email, PC, wireless phones, texting and THE FACEBOOK.
Alex what is a wired phone, pager, fax, telex, telegram, an electric or manual typewriter, composing with without spell check, composition with pen and paper, a handwritten memo and mailing a letter.
How about actually having a discussion at the dinner table or in a public bar or establishment, rather than all with their heads bowed down to the great god of connectivity and white noise?
Those things just make all the little frogs think the boiling water is tepid. I agree, welfare SOL has risen, while all other SOL has declined. Let's pick an "odd" statistical year, in 2006, real household income went up.
Yet, the earnings of both men and women fell. How can household incomes go up when the earnings of both sexes go down? Easy: The number of workers per household went up.
Sound familiar, fast forward, more of the same, more part time, no benefit, poorly paying McJobs are necessary. All those economic recovery McJobs +14M created since 2008, while -15M good paying jobs went MIA.
Nice trick, no longer counted in the number which still leaves 1M more unemployed vs 2008, yet our advertised unemployment is 5%, not 12%, great recovery there.
Bonus treat, the 2nd job with its additional expenses and taxation does not contribute to raising the SOL, but is necessary to only to tread water in making ends meet due to rising expenses while inflation is touted as tame under 2% annual. What a bunch of BS and dumb frogs that believe and swallow that canard.
In the 1940's, 50s, 60s and 70's, a working man could support a family at a middle class standard of living with just one income. That job included affordable medical care, had full insurance and pension benefits too. What the hell is that?
Those are now long gone luxuries which must be budgeted off the top of your spendable income, like ACA. Remember, your spending is somebodies income, less disposable to spend, less income for others, simple economics.
That part of your budget is now going to corps to buy mandated insurance, not households as income. This is all part of our "rising" SOL and its just getting better all the time. But I digress.
Back on track, in the "daze" of yore, Mom could stay home, help educate, raise the kids, shop for less costly unprocessed food and prepare nutritious wholesome home meals. Today's higher SOL brings, day care, latchkey kids, eating fast food and processed foods, and no money in the budget for PE.
Resulting in rampant obesity, diabetes, increasing heart, circulatory and stroke problems, developing new allergies, cancers and other diseases. Let's not talk about compromised immune systems.
There just isn't enough time in the day for the now FAT and LAZY rats to go swim in the Hudson, and get immunized like I did playing in the filth. Much less wash their hands or slather on enough antiseptic hand gel in their ever escalating race.
Here is some recent inflation info on three big budget items, housing, cars and college, which have been going nothing but up, up and up. If you want true inflation rates go to shadowstats.com and look up the more reliable pre-1980 CPI calculation method.
That government method shows double digit 11% average annual inflation since 1985, that's an eye opener which is why the hedonic methods which far overweight technological advances and those creature comforts were employed, to manage the frogs expectations.
Back away from the gadgets, toys and creature comforts which are NON ESSENTIAL. No one on this planet can tell me or prove in any manner that our SOL has risen. Do you know why?
Because it has not, and in fact has been declining for quite some time. But sometimes the obvious is only apparent to an old frog who has been stewing in the pot long enough, and knows better.
Aricool - "yes, it is well known the incomes have dropped but that, of course, is not the same as the average standard of living going down. As you well know, there are so many confounding factors that income useless as a proxy for such; e.g., vastly cheaper food, automation, gadgets, creature comforts, much higher welfare lifts more out of poverty which is funded by massively higher productivity, etc. Just the soaring obesity rate tells me that SoL has likely gone up as measured by food affordability.
So, I am assuming that there is a connection between SoL and happiness up to a certain minimum level. This tells me the dropping incomes likewise would not affect happiness so much, esp. if people are getting enough of the creature comforts, social status, and ability to enjoy life, despite lower income, as afforded by net national productivity and technology advances."
The Nattering One muses... "vastly cheaper food, automation, gadgets, creature comforts, technology advances"
I don't know where you get your food or pay your bills, but mine and everything else, outside of consumer electronics and electro domestics, especially medical care and any form of insurance, is vastly more expensive every year.
I will come back to that later and again, the gadgets, technology and creature comforts, don't mean squat. I have cited numerous statistics in past missives and have proved that our SOL is lower today.
We have employed empirical methods, not once, not twice, but thrice in the past decade, in 2005, 2007 and 2014. If that is what you like, try the latest It's Getting Better? 1, It's Getting Better 2, It's Getting Better 3, It's Getting Better 4 and It's Getting Better 5.
Today however, I choose to employ another method, anecdotal and common sense in nature. Now put down that smart phone and let's take a trip...
Who cares about the new industrial light microwave, LEDTV and smart phone, some of us actually know how the world managed to function and get along before video gaming, wi-fi, internet, email, PC, wireless phones, texting and THE FACEBOOK.
Alex what is a wired phone, pager, fax, telex, telegram, an electric or manual typewriter, composing with without spell check, composition with pen and paper, a handwritten memo and mailing a letter.
How about actually having a discussion at the dinner table or in a public bar or establishment, rather than all with their heads bowed down to the great god of connectivity and white noise?
Those things just make all the little frogs think the boiling water is tepid. I agree, welfare SOL has risen, while all other SOL has declined. Let's pick an "odd" statistical year, in 2006, real household income went up.
Yet, the earnings of both men and women fell. How can household incomes go up when the earnings of both sexes go down? Easy: The number of workers per household went up.
Sound familiar, fast forward, more of the same, more part time, no benefit, poorly paying McJobs are necessary. All those economic recovery McJobs +14M created since 2008, while -15M good paying jobs went MIA.
Nice trick, no longer counted in the number which still leaves 1M more unemployed vs 2008, yet our advertised unemployment is 5%, not 12%, great recovery there.
Bonus treat, the 2nd job with its additional expenses and taxation does not contribute to raising the SOL, but is necessary to only to tread water in making ends meet due to rising expenses while inflation is touted as tame under 2% annual. What a bunch of BS and dumb frogs that believe and swallow that canard.
In the 1940's, 50s, 60s and 70's, a working man could support a family at a middle class standard of living with just one income. That job included affordable medical care, had full insurance and pension benefits too. What the hell is that?
Those are now long gone luxuries which must be budgeted off the top of your spendable income, like ACA. Remember, your spending is somebodies income, less disposable to spend, less income for others, simple economics.
That part of your budget is now going to corps to buy mandated insurance, not households as income. This is all part of our "rising" SOL and its just getting better all the time. But I digress.
Back on track, in the "daze" of yore, Mom could stay home, help educate, raise the kids, shop for less costly unprocessed food and prepare nutritious wholesome home meals. Today's higher SOL brings, day care, latchkey kids, eating fast food and processed foods, and no money in the budget for PE.
Resulting in rampant obesity, diabetes, increasing heart, circulatory and stroke problems, developing new allergies, cancers and other diseases. Let's not talk about compromised immune systems.
There just isn't enough time in the day for the now FAT and LAZY rats to go swim in the Hudson, and get immunized like I did playing in the filth. Much less wash their hands or slather on enough antiseptic hand gel in their ever escalating race.
Here is some recent inflation info on three big budget items, housing, cars and college, which have been going nothing but up, up and up. If you want true inflation rates go to shadowstats.com and look up the more reliable pre-1980 CPI calculation method.
That government method shows double digit 11% average annual inflation since 1985, that's an eye opener which is why the hedonic methods which far overweight technological advances and those creature comforts were employed, to manage the frogs expectations.
Back away from the gadgets, toys and creature comforts which are NON ESSENTIAL. No one on this planet can tell me or prove in any manner that our SOL has risen. Do you know why?
Because it has not, and in fact has been declining for quite some time. But sometimes the obvious is only apparent to an old frog who has been stewing in the pot long enough, and knows better.
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