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The US economic model has been quite successful recently as well. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-median-income?tab=table&time=2009..2019 https://ourw

The US economic model has been quite successful recently as well. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-median-income?tab=table&time=2009..2019 https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-median-income?tab=t... As of ~2019, the US had the world's 4th highest median income, even adjusted for cost of living -- easily the highest median income of any large country. And the median income in the United States has been growing rapidly. Sort the table by "Absolute Change" and you'll see that in absolute terms, the US median income grew the 5th most over the period from 2009-2019. Again, the US is comfortably ahead of other large countries when measured according to this statistic. (For example, US workers saw over 2x as much wage growth as Canadian workers did over the same time period.) Speaking as an American here, it frustrates me when Americans fail to realize how good they have it compared with people from developing countries. Americans are some of the world's richest people, yet they still insist on hoarding as many good jobs for themselves as possible. When Americans talk of "reducing inequality" it often seems hypocritical. I genuinely don't understand why it is that the people who are best off also complain the loudest.

pphysch 3y ago
Americans have among the highest incomes, yes, but we also have ridiculous cost of living amid a highly predatory financial system. Housing, healthcare, education and other living expenses are astronomical. We can't just look at the high incomes. Successful for the elite, yes. Not for the median American.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 3y ago
  The stats I linked are adjusted for cost of living. As stated on the "Chart" tab: "This data is adjusted for inflation and for differences in the cost of living between countries." People who earn the median income are hardly elite.
  - pphysch 3y ago
    The data you linked only goes to 2019. That's cherry-picking, if anything. Bad economics. Median income earners will never own a home in current conditions. That's a significant downgrade from past generations. We are not better off.
    - 0xDEAFBEAD 3y ago
      If you toggle the year to 2021, you'll see that US data on that page ends in 2019. No cherry-picking, I just chose 10 most recent years which had US data easily available. House prices in the US are high, but not remarkably so. (E.g. Canada's house prices are higher.) I'd argue that expensive US houses have more to do with NIMBYism than the overall health of the US economy. Focusing on housing in particular is itself a form of cherry-picking a single statistic. The median income data I linked is adjusted for cost of living, which includes housing and other stuff.
      - pphysch 3y ago
        It's like saying the US economy is doing great in 2010 by using data that ends in 2006. The last 3-4 years have been awful for the median American. The "prosperity" of 201X-2019 was funded by loose financial conditions: it's basically just debt. Purely debt-driven "growth" should not be mistaken for a healthy economy. And we are feeling the consequences of that debt-driven growth now, with high inflation, recession conditions, and a global sidle away from the dollar.
    - datavirtue 3y ago
      When their current car dies they won't own one of those either. Shit storm is brewing for the poors in America. Hardly anyone is taking advantage of our very inexpensive training programs that train in the trades (easily transitionable to engineering). Half the people who do show up are having it paid by their employer and barely put in any effort. Apartment complexes are looking good as an investment.
WhiteMasterRace 3y ago
[flagged]
CapstanRoller 3y ago
>Americans are some of the world's richest people Taking national wealth or GDP and implying it's shared equally amongst its citizens would be an absurdly disingenuous argument. You're not doing that, are you?

pphysch 3y ago

Americans have among the highest incomes, yes, but we also have ridiculous cost of living amid a highly predatory financial system. Housing, healthcare, education and other living expenses are astronomical. We can't just look at the high incomes. Successful for the elite, yes. Not for the median American.

0xDEAFBEAD 3y ago
The stats I linked are adjusted for cost of living. As stated on the "Chart" tab: "This data is adjusted for inflation and for differences in the cost of living between countries." People who earn the median income are hardly elite.
- pphysch 3y ago
  The data you linked only goes to 2019. That's cherry-picking, if anything. Bad economics. Median income earners will never own a home in current conditions. That's a significant downgrade from past generations. We are not better off.
  - 0xDEAFBEAD 3y ago
    If you toggle the year to 2021, you'll see that US data on that page ends in 2019. No cherry-picking, I just chose 10 most recent years which had US data easily available. House prices in the US are high, but not remarkably so. (E.g. Canada's house prices are higher.) I'd argue that expensive US houses have more to do with NIMBYism than the overall health of the US economy. Focusing on housing in particular is itself a form of cherry-picking a single statistic. The median income data I linked is adjusted for cost of living, which includes housing and other stuff.
    - pphysch 3y ago
      It's like saying the US economy is doing great in 2010 by using data that ends in 2006. The last 3-4 years have been awful for the median American. The "prosperity" of 201X-2019 was funded by loose financial conditions: it's basically just debt. Purely debt-driven "growth" should not be mistaken for a healthy economy. And we are feeling the consequences of that debt-driven growth now, with high inflation, recession conditions, and a global sidle away from the dollar.
  - datavirtue 3y ago
    When their current car dies they won't own one of those either. Shit storm is brewing for the poors in America. Hardly anyone is taking advantage of our very inexpensive training programs that train in the trades (easily transitionable to engineering). Half the people who do show up are having it paid by their employer and barely put in any effort. Apartment complexes are looking good as an investment.

WhiteMasterRace 3y ago

[flagged]

CapstanRoller 3y ago

>Americans are some of the world's richest people Taking national wealth or GDP and implying it's shared equally amongst its citizens would be an absurdly disingenuous argument. You're not doing that, are you?