marmico wrote:The shadowstat bozos can keep a straight face and unconditionally believe that the purchasing power of median household income has declined by 75% since Nixon was elected in 1967.
Yup. And discuss it on their powerful smart phones, fancy tablet computers, very cheap and powerful modern Windows laptops, etc. And drive home in their more powerful, more reliable, much fully featured cars which can be had for a little over $20,000 if they dicker a bit. (My 2017 Camry SE which has everything I want including a tilt/sliding sunroof cost me only $21,000. I probably chose too high an initial offer since the dealer took it via email in a couple of hours, but I was pretty happy about getting 20 percent off without having to even go to the dealer). Or that the value of their home, in real dollars, has on average, held up just fine over 50 years if it has been properly maintained.
So when you consider the quality and efficiency and choice and comfort of what you can have in the US for X$, yeah, it doesn't take a genius or even an economics expert to see that cumulatively, Shadowstats is WAY off.
But don't take my word for it. The excellent book, "Myths of Rich and Poor in America" has this concept well documented by a couple of economists, as of 2000. Lots of good examples and statistics.
https://www.amazon.com/Myths-Rich-Poor- ... 0465047831...
Of course, if the meme is economic doom no matter what the facts -- data and logic are discarded if they don't fit the meme. So Shadowstats, ETP, etc. says what the doomers want to hear, and thus their popularity -- despite the evidence on the ground.
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.