The good economy isn’t so good for more and more Americans and actually getting worst with rising consumer prices from import /tariff taxes on China made goods…
Remember “No Child Left Behind,” George W. Bush’s education reform plan? Congress passed it in 2001.
Whether that law actually helped is subject to debate, but Bush picked a good name for it. Humans are social creatures. Our instincts tell us to make sure no one in our tribe gets “left behind,” economically or otherwise.
That instinct breaks down sometimes. Or we disagree about who belongs in our tribe. It’s a big problem in either case.
Hence, when people say even the poorest Americans live better than their grandparents did, or better than those in other countries, they miss the point.
Past generations and people overseas are the wrong comparison. We get angry when our own group leaves us behind.
Millions of Americans feel that way. And the data say they aren’t wrong.
Unhappy Quarter
In 2013, the Federal Reserve began conducting a yearly “Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking,” under the catchy acronym “SHED.” It measures the economic well-being of US families and identifies possible risks.
The latest SHED found 34% of adult Americans say they are “living comfortably.” Another 41% report they are “doing okay.” So 75% of us are generally satisfied, economically.
That sounds great, and in one sense it is. The 2013 SHED found only 62% were in those two groups. So to now have three-quarters satisfied is a significant improvement.
The problem is 75% ≠ 100%, and millions of people aren’t economically satisfied.
Specifically, 18% of us think we are “just getting by,” and 7% are “finding it difficult to get by.”
We lack historical data for comparison, but to me, this seems high.
Note, being satisfied doesn’t require any particular income or net worth. Lots of well-paid people think they are just getting by, and some low-income folks believe they’re doing okay.
But however you slice it, one-fourth of the adult population thinks it is being left behind. This is a problem….
Note…
This linked post is from July15th….The end of August economic numbers are down from 6 weeks ago….
image…ft.com