Study: American Households Hit 43-Year Low In Net Worth

CBS DC ^ | November 30, 2012 | Edward N. Wolff

[george76]

The median net worth of American households has dropped to a 43-year low as the lower and middle classes appear poorer and less stable than they have been since 1969.

According to a recent study by New York University economics professor Edward N. Wolff, median net worth is at the decades-low figure of $57,000 (in 2010 dollars). And as the numbers in his study reflect, the situation only appears worse when all the statistics are taken as a whole.

According to Wolff, between 1983 and 2010, the percentage of households with less than $10,000 in assets (using constant 1995 dollars) rose from 29.7 percent to 37.1 percent. The “less than $10,000″ figure includes the numerous households that have no assets at all, or “negative assets,” which is otherwise known as “debt.”

[garbanzo]

I’m starting to call the years from 1981-2001 the Reagan interregnum - a brief pause in our slide to socialism.

[Nowhere Man]

You’re right. Although the 1990’s were Clinton years, we managed to stop a lot of his socialist ideas in their tracks. Remember Hillarycare? We stopped that dead! One bag thing that got past the radar was the Brady Bill but beyond that, we did a fairly good job holding the line. I think with the 9/11 attacks, we lost a lot of our freedoms too, in many ways, the terrorists have won. After that, you had Pelosi, Reid and OBummer come around and now we have Obummercare.