Posted on 08/18/2005 9:14:42 AM PDT by minus_273
I saw it first! (Post #8)
WHOA! A little harsh, doc...
As for the report that this article was based on...I say hogwash...it is far to complicated an issue to say it is easier to move "up" in Europe or Canada than it is here...
People born into poverty in the US would be rich if they lived in Europe.
I called Conspiracy Guy and Darksheare!
Fluffy hasn't eaten for a while...
Nice kitty!
Another question - when I quickly read the report on "Intergenerational mobility", I failed to discover if "mobility" was limited to "upward mobility" or whether "mobility" goes both ways.
I'd also like to suggest that by some other measures, America isn't such a bad place to live. Our per-capita income is one of the highest in the world (If not the highest, noting the comments on Luxembourg and Bermuda in the link below).
Another question - when I quickly read the report on "Intergenerational mobility", I failed to discover if "mobility" was limited to "upward mobility" or whether "mobility" goes both ways.
I'd also like to suggest that by some other measures, America isn't such a bad place to live. Our per-capita income is one of the highest in the world (If not the highest, noting the comments on Luxembourg and Bermuda in the link below).
Include me in the yodelhead category...
But you belong in this category there, Doctor Doctor...
"Doctor, Doctor. Can't you see I'm zotted, zotted."
Now that's one happy cat!
Nobody should be allowed to do that to a cat!
Try this research instead: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/BG1418.cfm
Many academic studies have found remarkably consistent results that suggest there is substantial income mobility in the United States. 1 For example:
* A 1992 Treasury Department study showed that between 1979 and 1988, 86 percent of those in the bottom income quintile moved to a higher quintile, and 35 percent in the top income quintile moved to a lower quintile. 2
* A 1995 Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas report showed that almost three-fourths of those in the bottom quintile in 1975 were in a higher quintile by 1991, and almost 40 percent in the top quintile moved down to a lower quintile over the same period. 3
* A 1996 Urban Institute study showed that large numbers of Americans move into a new income quintile, with estimates ranging from 25 percent to 40 percent in a single year. The same study found even higher mobility rates over longer periods: about 45 percent over five years and 60 percent over 9-year and 17-year periods. 4
* In 1998, the Census Bureau reported that, on average, over 41 percent of Americans increased their inflation-adjusted income by 5 percent or more per year from 1984 to 1994. 5 The primary reasons for changes in income from year to year were changes in marital status, changes in the number of workers in the household, and moving into or out of full-time, year-round employment. * A 2000 Economic Policy Institute study showed that almost 60 percent of Americans in the lowest income quintile in 1969 were in a higher quintile in 1996, and over 61 percent in the highest income quintile had moved down into a lower income quintile during the same period. 6
The direction of income mobility is also important. The upward movement of workers in the second-lowest and middle-income quintiles is larger than the downward movement. From 1969 to 1994, the income of 53 percent of workers in the second-lowest income quintile had increased enough to move them up into a higher income quintile, and 38.7 percent of workers in the middle quintile had moved up compared to 37.9 who moved down. 7
Additionally, the unemployment rates in the US and UK are far less than the unemployment rates in most of the other countries mentioned in the research.
And BTW, posters here at FR prefer logic, data to back up your assertions, and sarcasm; not personal attacks.
Another thing to ponder:
I lived in Norway for a year, a number of years ago. Buying a cotton, button-down, long-sleved shirt cost me $48 at the time. At the same time in the US, it would only have cost me $18. Even when people make less money in this country, we are still better off because our money goes further - fewer taxes.
(Look closely)
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