Survey: No Improvement In Standard Of Living In U.S. For The Past 5 Years

All Headline News ^ | June 9, 2008 | Vittorio Hernandez

[Eva]

Smaller homes are supposed to be “greener”, or is that redder?
Smaller vehicles, too. Now, credit card debt is sign of opulence, not declining standard of living, but living above your means.

[TheThirdRuffian]

Not sure even the “persuit of happiness” made it.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Now, credit card debt is sign of opulence, not declining standard of living, but living above your means.

My point is, while all this is true...when average Joe American maxes out his Visa after buying that 5000" inch plasma TV that he HAD to have, that purchase, and all others like it, feed into reports that measure consumer spending and counts for something that is considered good for the economy and a positive "score" for standard of living. If Joe takes 50 years to pay off that TV or declares bankruptcy 2 years from now...or whatever...data on events like that are not considered when calculating standard of living.

[redgolum]

Well, the standard of living has dropped. It is called inflation, and it is biting us with fuel prices.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

This link is one of the best stories I’ve ever seen on the subject of the “poor” in America. Man, if I have to be “poor” I sure want to do it here! :)

The following are FACTS about persons defined as “poor” by the Census Bureau, taken from various gov­ernment reports:

* Forty-three percent of all poor households actu­ally own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.

* Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.

* Only 6 percent of poor households are over­crowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.

* The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)

* Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.

* Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.

* Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

* Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg2064.cfm

[Biblebelter]

I heard someone say it is still difficult to get a hotel room in New York City. Europeans are flocking here because the drop in the dollar has made things so cheap. If your income is earned in American dollars, NYC hotel rooms are not cheap.