4 ms·

> $2200 is still a ton of purchasing power compared to almost any other country. $2200 is the income, not the purchasing power. Purchasing power is income norm

> $2200 is still a ton of purchasing power compared to almost any other country. $2200 is the income, not the purchasing power. Purchasing power is income normalized by domestic price level. This isn't to nitpick, it actually means purchasing power is quite different when compared to other rich nations. For example PP in the US is 25% lower than in Germany: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PA.NUS.PRVT.PP?locations=US-DE-GB-FR https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PA.NUS.PRVT.PP?location... In other words: With a household income of $2200 in the US and a household income of $1650 in Germany you can buy about the same amount of things. The more important point however: Most rich countries use the concept of relative poverty as the poverty threshold. This has the nice benefit of automatically updating itself if wage and thus price level increases. It usually is defined as 60% of the median income. US median income in 2019 was $31133. For a household of two adults that means the poverty line for the US should be set at $3113[0] - quite the difference. [0] $31133 * 60% * 2 adults / 12 months = $3113

jiofih 6y ago
You’re saying the poverty line should follow median income, and that’s exactly what I argued against. The poverty line marks poverty, as in having trouble eating properly, losing opportunities; not an inability to pay your car financing. Germany is one of the top world powers. For the purpose of this discussion the US and Germany are equals. I was thinking more of Ghana, Argentina, South Sudan, Kazakhstan, etc. you know, the other 95% of the word. This is so out of touch I barely have the will to argue :/
- bildung 6y ago
  What you mean is called absolute poverty in the social sciences. What most other people talk about is called relative poverty. Almost all OECD countries measure relative poverty as a share of median income.
  - michaelmrose 6y ago
    Hell if you like to sleep indoors in the urban areas where 80% of the US population lives and most of the jobs are 26k with a family of 4 is pretty close to absolute poverty too.
- baq 6y ago
  you live in SF and make $35k/y. are you poor? you live in Ghana and make $3.5k/y. are you poor?
- michaelmrose 6y ago
  In the small city where I live a 2 BR apartment will run you at least 1200 and they wont rent to you unless you take home about 2.5x that. After taxes someone or 2 someone's making 26,200 would be taking home 835 every 2 weeks. Realistically speaking even if anyone would rent to you, which they wont, you couldn't afford to pay rent, keep the lights on, and eat. You are right of course if they could figure out a way to make french fries at McDonalds remotely while living in some poorer part of the world they would totally have substantial buying power.

jiofih 6y ago

You’re saying the poverty line should follow median income, and that’s exactly what I argued against. The poverty line marks poverty, as in having trouble eating properly, losing opportunities; not an inability to pay your car financing. Germany is one of the top world powers. For the purpose of this discussion the US and Germany are equals. I was thinking more of Ghana, Argentina, South Sudan, Kazakhstan, etc. you know, the other 95% of the word. This is so out of touch I barely have the will to argue :/

bildung 6y ago
What you mean is called absolute poverty in the social sciences. What most other people talk about is called relative poverty. Almost all OECD countries measure relative poverty as a share of median income.
- michaelmrose 6y ago
  Hell if you like to sleep indoors in the urban areas where 80% of the US population lives and most of the jobs are 26k with a family of 4 is pretty close to absolute poverty too.
baq 6y ago
you live in SF and make $35k/y. are you poor? you live in Ghana and make $3.5k/y. are you poor?
michaelmrose 6y ago
In the small city where I live a 2 BR apartment will run you at least 1200 and they wont rent to you unless you take home about 2.5x that. After taxes someone or 2 someone's making 26,200 would be taking home 835 every 2 weeks. Realistically speaking even if anyone would rent to you, which they wont, you couldn't afford to pay rent, keep the lights on, and eat. You are right of course if they could figure out a way to make french fries at McDonalds remotely while living in some poorer part of the world they would totally have substantial buying power.