Most of Us Are Not Doing So Well: Numbers Crunching Working People

Every time I hear NPR and other mainstream corporate media talk about we the "consumers" (rather than we the people) and speak about the "strong economy," I cringe. And I feel angry! Because I know that it is NOT TRUE! Deep bow of gratitude to Frances Moore Lappé and all the wise and courageous  truth-tellers who again and again give us the antidote to the lies and propaganda we Americans are immersed in. They tell us the Truth. May we all be courageous seekers and bearers of truth. ― Molly

Our government’s and corporate media’s failure to capture the true extent of unemployment creates a distorted narrative about work that feeds bewilderment and self-recrimination.

by

Frances Moore Lappé, Bruce T. Boccardy

Though a recent poll suggests the majority of Americans disapprove of President Trump’s “overall performance,” they support his “handling of the economy” more than other issues surveyed.

"The prosperity cycle we have entered into is continuing, it is strong,” White House National Economic Council Director Lawrence Kudlow celebrated last April. “This is the new Trump economy,” and “I'll tell you it's working.”

Whoo-hoo!

But wait. Do the numbers justify celebration? To understand our world we need numbers, for sure, and we also need to keep in mind the old refrain “numbers can lie”—even accurate ones. So let’s dig into those most pundits rely on to judge our economy’s health.

First, let’s look at what gets measured.

The Cost of Basics

Cost-of-living calculators report how much money we need to cover such basics as housing, groceries, taxes, and health in various US localities. The Economic Policy Institute’s budget calculator, for example, tells us that in Boston two adults and two kids need $113,558 just to cover these basics. Seems like a lot of money. Many of us can recall a time when $100,000 in family income was well above middle class.

But costs have been rising across the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the cost of living from July 2017 to July 2018 was up from 1.7 percent to 2.9 percent. A broader measure, the inflation rate, for 2017 was 2.1 percent. So if we aren’t making more, we’re losing ground.

Career Builders reported in 2017 that seventy-eight percent of US workers are living pay check to pay check. It found that inflation-adjusted (“real”) hourly earnings increased 1.2 percent in the year ending in April 2019, but over this period the inflation rate was even higher: 2.0 percent gobbled up the gain.

These two indices—cost-of-living and inflation—are related, but not identical. The Cost of Living Index tracks what it takes to maintain a certain standard of living; whereas, inflation refers a general increase—measured by the Consumer Price Index—in prices of goods and services.

By either measure, most of us are not doing so well.

In 2017 the bulk of gains in our real income came from working longer hours, not wage increases, according to the US Census Bureau. Note, too, that longer working hours for many of us means bigger expenses for commuting, childcare, or care for other dependents.

Please continue this article here: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/10/03/most-us-are-not-doing-so-well-numbers-crunching-working-people?fbclid=IwAR3niQfjaTL1aaiP83ukNTeT9B_0tzV_b-NgdCPdrPVh2qJIkjrzwi0IrdE