3 ms·

I hoped reading this would provide insight, but instead it only offered some random eassywriter's disdain of people different from him/herself.

krath94 9y ago
Welcome to 2017 America.
- killjoywashere 9y ago
  I believe the staff of The Economist is sourced primarily from Great Britain, and since they refuse to add bylines, it's impossible to know where this author is actually from.
cookiecaper 9y ago
Yeah, it's very disappointing to see a stalwart like The Economist descend into publishing this type of drivel. It starts at the conclusions it wishes to make and works backwards. I don't think this passes the quality muster to cross the threshold of HN's political relevance/interest barrier.
justinzollars 9y ago
I work with a dude who is 50 from Michigan. It's amazing to hear stories of what an American lifestyle in the 70's and 80's was like. With 40,000 income he could buy a house, a vacation house in northern Michigan, a boat and two great vacations a year. Its hard to admit standards of living are decreasing. There is def a lot of blame to go around. I agree one should not be disdainful of people who are different. This red team vs blue team logic is getting us no where.
- MaxfordAndSons 9y ago
  This article is NOT "the red team vs blue team logic", it's data driven, dispassionate reporting, which gp is projecting partisan bias because they just don't like the conclusions it's finding.
- maxlybbert 9y ago
  That was before inflation. Using https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL , it looks like the CPI was 78 in January 1980, and 244.456 in February 2017 (the most recent data currently available). Meaning that $1 from 1980 would buy as much as $3.13 last February, and $40,000 in 1980 would be equivalent to $125,362 in February. Perhaps not enough for two homes and a boat, but pretty good income in most of the US. Then again, there are plenty of caveats: the CPI overstates inflation, there are things on the market today that no amount of money could have bought in 1980, etc.
- Fezzik 9y ago
  accounting for inflation, the buying power of $40k in 1980 is the equivalent of $118k today... enough to buy a house, a vacation house, a boat, and multiple vacations year in most regions. Maybe the percentage of the population making this amount has decreased, I'm not sure, but the buying power is roughly the same. And if you're going back to 1970: $40k in 1970 dollars could buy you $250k of stuff today. http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
- extra88 9y ago
  Sounds a lot older than fifty. A fifty-year old would have been thirteen in 1980. Maybe they're sixty? Median household income in 1980 was $16,671 [0] so someone making $40,000 was a high earner. In 2014 it was $53,013. [0] http://www.davemanuel.com/median-household-income.php http://www.davemanuel.com/median-household-income.php
matthewmacleod 9y ago
I don't get much disdain from this article, I'm afraid. I think you might be reading too much into it.
MaxfordAndSons 9y ago
I'm not seeing the disdain, admittedly I'm only halfway through this ~10,000 word essay (impressive how fast you and sibs read it and fact checked its numerous data points and determined that it lacked insight/integrity btw). Can you cite some specific examples of the authors disdainful attitude?

krath94 9y ago

Welcome to 2017 America.

killjoywashere 9y ago
I believe the staff of The Economist is sourced primarily from Great Britain, and since they refuse to add bylines, it's impossible to know where this author is actually from.

cookiecaper 9y ago

Yeah, it's very disappointing to see a stalwart like The Economist descend into publishing this type of drivel. It starts at the conclusions it wishes to make and works backwards. I don't think this passes the quality muster to cross the threshold of HN's political relevance/interest barrier.

justinzollars 9y ago

I work with a dude who is 50 from Michigan. It's amazing to hear stories of what an American lifestyle in the 70's and 80's was like. With 40,000 income he could buy a house, a vacation house in northern Michigan, a boat and two great vacations a year. Its hard to admit standards of living are decreasing. There is def a lot of blame to go around. I agree one should not be disdainful of people who are different. This red team vs blue team logic is getting us no where.

MaxfordAndSons 9y ago
This article is NOT "the red team vs blue team logic", it's data driven, dispassionate reporting, which gp is projecting partisan bias because they just don't like the conclusions it's finding.
maxlybbert 9y ago
That was before inflation. Using https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL , it looks like the CPI was 78 in January 1980, and 244.456 in February 2017 (the most recent data currently available). Meaning that $1 from 1980 would buy as much as $3.13 last February, and $40,000 in 1980 would be equivalent to $125,362 in February. Perhaps not enough for two homes and a boat, but pretty good income in most of the US. Then again, there are plenty of caveats: the CPI overstates inflation, there are things on the market today that no amount of money could have bought in 1980, etc.
Fezzik 9y ago
accounting for inflation, the buying power of $40k in 1980 is the equivalent of $118k today... enough to buy a house, a vacation house, a boat, and multiple vacations year in most regions. Maybe the percentage of the population making this amount has decreased, I'm not sure, but the buying power is roughly the same. And if you're going back to 1970: $40k in 1970 dollars could buy you $250k of stuff today. http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
extra88 9y ago
Sounds a lot older than fifty. A fifty-year old would have been thirteen in 1980. Maybe they're sixty? Median household income in 1980 was $16,671 [0] so someone making $40,000 was a high earner. In 2014 it was $53,013. [0] http://www.davemanuel.com/median-household-income.php http://www.davemanuel.com/median-household-income.php

matthewmacleod 9y ago

I don't get much disdain from this article, I'm afraid. I think you might be reading too much into it.

MaxfordAndSons 9y ago

I'm not seeing the disdain, admittedly I'm only halfway through this ~10,000 word essay (impressive how fast you and sibs read it and fact checked its numerous data points and determined that it lacked insight/integrity btw). Can you cite some specific examples of the authors disdainful attitude?