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How Much Worse Off Are We?
Tech Central Station ^ | 7/15/2004 | Arnold Kling

Posted on 07/15/2004 6:15:42 AM PDT by visagoth

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1 posted on 07/15/2004 6:15:43 AM PDT by visagoth
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To: visagoth

Old Ben remembers the 70s. Consumer goods are cheaper (relatively) and much more plentiful today - as are low cost retail outlets.


2 posted on 07/15/2004 6:18:59 AM PDT by BenLurkin ("A republic, if we can revive it")
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To: visagoth

I pay as much attention to Bernie Sanders as I do Michael Morre.


3 posted on 07/15/2004 6:19:48 AM PDT by Piquaboy
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To: Piquaboy

I wonder why people elect these moonbats.... but then again, we both know there are a great many moonbats voting for moonbats out there.


4 posted on 07/15/2004 6:22:40 AM PDT by visagoth (If you think education is expensive - try ignorance)
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To: visagoth
I feel the font size we are stuck at stinks!

Unreadable at this size! Free the pixels!

John Kerry has said, "I voted for bigger pixels before I voted against them. George Bush has lied to the American people about pixel size. I was in Vietnam. John Edwards is my vice-president, and he voted for bigger pixels too."



Patriot Paradox

5 posted on 07/15/2004 6:24:42 AM PDT by sonsofliberty2000 ("If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." Thomas Paine)
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To: visagoth

in the 70's if you needed work, or a second job, you could always pump gas. today virtually that entire job class has been priced out of business.


6 posted on 07/15/2004 6:26:34 AM PDT by camle (keep your mind open and somebody will fill it with something for you))
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To: visagoth

It seems the moonbats are about to outnumber the good folks.


7 posted on 07/15/2004 6:29:56 AM PDT by Piquaboy
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To: visagoth

in the 70s I was youthful, today I am older, no comparison. end of story.


8 posted on 07/15/2004 7:05:25 AM PDT by seastay
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To: visagoth

Lifestyles today aren't keeping up with the lifestyles depicted as middle class on television. People would feel a lot richer if they stopped watching TV advertising.


9 posted on 07/15/2004 7:09:29 AM PDT by Mr. Jeeves
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To: visagoth

Well, we don't have a pizza eating cigar smoker in the oval office. I would call that "better off."


10 posted on 07/15/2004 7:12:52 AM PDT by dalebert
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To: visagoth
Percent of Households Owning in 1970 Owning in 2001

[...]
Cell Phone     0 %    23 %
Large-screen TV    0 %    25 %
Answering Machine    0 %    37 %
Cable or Satellite TV hookup    0 %    64 %
VCR    0 %    74 %
Microwave Oven    0 %    75 %

Car and radio ownership was much higher during the Great Depression than in 1914 both in USA and Germany. What does it prove?

11 posted on 07/15/2004 8:28:23 AM PDT by A. Pole (Capt. Lionel Mandrake: "Condition Red, sir, yes, jolly good idea. That keeps the men on their toes.")
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To: Willie Green; Wolfie; ex-snook; Jhoffa_; FITZ; arete; FreedomPoster; Red Jones; Pyro7480; ...
Car and radio ownership was much higher during the Great Depression than in 1914 both in USA and Germany. What does it prove?

One of two: either the author is an idiot or he thinks that his readers are idiots. Or both.

12 posted on 07/15/2004 8:33:23 AM PDT by A. Pole (Capt. Lionel Mandrake: "Condition Red, sir, yes, jolly good idea. That keeps the men on their toes.")
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To: visagoth
The underlying premise of this article is right on target. Anytime I hear someone whine and complain about how much "better" it was for the middle class back in the post-WW2 years, I make sure they understand how cheap it would be to enjoy a 1950s standard of living in 2004 dollars.

Think about it . . . back then, the largest expense item for a typical hospital was the laundry bill for their bed linens.

13 posted on 07/15/2004 8:42:57 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium . . . sed ego sum homo indomitus")
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To: Alberta's Child

There is one thing that this article does not account for:

- The rise of the two (and in many cases 2.x) income household.

- The rise of record levels of consumer debt.

While it may be that the saturation of household durable goods has grown over the past decades, I suspect that it has done so more on the backs of cheap credit and dual income families more than anything else.

Forty years ago, a worker with a high school education could support a family of four with his paycheck - and buy a house on a 7 or 15 year mortgage. Today, such a scenario is a pipe dream and families consisting of two college graduates have to have both parents in the workplace and a 30+ year mortgage to pull it off.

I suspect there is a lot of truth to the Kerry/Edwards accusation, but the cause is not conservative policies...it is out of control government spending paired with out of control taxation.


14 posted on 07/15/2004 8:53:07 AM PDT by applemac_g4
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To: applemac_g4
Forty years ago, a worker with a high school education could support a family of four with his paycheck - and buy a house on a 7 or 15 year mortgage.

It would be much better if the mothers could stay home, Americans could reproduce themselves without mass immigration from the Third World, had time to go to the church and DVD/VCR ownership were zero.

15 posted on 07/15/2004 9:02:22 AM PDT by A. Pole (Capt. Lionel Mandrake: "Condition Red, sir, yes, jolly good idea. That keeps the men on their toes.")
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To: A. Pole
Hey thanks for the alert.

Don't ya think that color TV, hot tubs, jet travel and cell phones are more numerous today than a generation ago? On the other hand, my wife did not work when raising the kids but today my son's wifes and my daughters are all working.

Anyway, the comparison is not a generation ago, it is 4 years ago. People will decide in November if the last 4 years has reduced the nation's economic and terrorist fears. At this point, I vote No and No.

16 posted on 07/15/2004 9:07:09 AM PDT by ex-snook ("Above all Things Truth Beareth Away the Victory")
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To: applemac_g4
You raise a valid point, but I contend that the rise of two-income families was one of the causes of the inflated cost of living in this country (by driving up demand), not a result of it.

If half of our current workforce decided to quit their jobs tomorrow, that $400,000 suburban home would probably only cost $200,000.

17 posted on 07/15/2004 9:17:13 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium . . . sed ego sum homo indomitus")
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To: visagoth

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm much better off than I was in the 70s. Heck, I'm much better off than I was 4 years go.


18 posted on 07/15/2004 9:19:13 AM PDT by MEGoody (Kerry - isn't that a girl's name? (Conan O'Brian))
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To: A. Pole

Abortion has reduced the American-born work force by 40 million--many more if one includes the unborn children of the unborn. One reason for abortion among the working class is the need for women to work to maintain the family's living style.


19 posted on 07/15/2004 9:22:33 AM PDT by RobbyS
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To: ex-snook

The two are related. The other question is whether a new administration would reduce those fears. I vote no. 9/11 eliminated a lot of illusions. Bill Clinton was our generation's Calvin Coolidge.


20 posted on 07/15/2004 9:26:18 AM PDT by RobbyS
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