Posted on 10/20/2006 8:53:42 AM PDT by Mikey_1962
"typical family is doing a whole lot better than their grandparents were in 1967"
Here we go again, assuming we're the children of hippies!
My 1 set of grandparents were in their 50s/60s in '67! Their 30s were in the '30s/40s! >:-(
(sorry, just a gripe!)
We may be financially richer today, but I'm convinced we had a better class of human as citizens and neighbors.......excluding the Hippy leftists as usual.
Semper Fi
Roger That,RR! Ever since Johnson's Great Society, we've gone downhill, morally and spiritually.......
just goes to show you that having material wealth does NOT make you happy. When are we ever going to learn that?
Agree 1000%.In '67 the typical middle class household was very comfortable and the "median" level of decency and selflessness was much higher....hippies excluded,of course.
"Yes, despite their material prosperity, the Medians are a grumpy lot."
The Bible explains this very well.
Median Income (Men)*
1965 $28,599
1975 $33,148
1985 $42,847
1995 $39,186
2005 $41,386
* All figures in 2005 inflation-adjusted dollars
Median Income (Women)
1965 $9,533 (33% of men)
1975 $12,697 (38% of men)
1985 $27,720 (65% of men)
1995 $27,990 (71% of men)
2005 $31.858 (77% of men)
Household Net Worth
1965 $254,740
1975 $268,234
1985 $292,143
1995 $345,321
2005 $465,970
Personal Savings Rate
1965 8.5%
1975 10.5%
1985 11%
1995 5%
2005 -0.4% (I don't think this includes 401K or houses)
Top Federal Tax Rate
1965 70%
1975 70%
1985 31%
1995 40%
2005 35%
Misery Index (Inflation Plus Unemployment)
1965 6.1%
1975 17.7%
1985 10.7%
1995 8.4%
2005 8.5%
Changes in Purchasing Power
1965 -
1975 10 years: -1.3%
1985 10 years: 0.1% 20 years: -1.2%
1995 10 years: 1.8% 20 years: 1.9% 30 years: 0.6%
2005 10 years: 5.7% 20 years: 8.0% 30 year: 7.5% 40 years: 6.2%
Home Ownership Percentage
1965 63%
1975 68%
1985 64%
1995 65%
2005 69%
Productivity Increases Since 1965
1965 (baseline)
1975 +24%
1985 +42%
1995 +66%
2005 +220%
Percentage of Women in Workforce
1965 34%
1975 39%
1985 44%
1995 46%
2005 46%
Compensation of CEO of largest U.S. Corporation vs. Median Household
In actual dollars for each year
1965 Frederick Donner/General Motors 3.9 million (med. household income = 0.2%)
1975 Ken Jamieson/Exxon $469,550 (med. household income = 3%)
1985 Clifton Garvin/Exxon $1.5 million (med. household income = 2%)
1995 John Smith/General Motors $7 million (med. household income = 0.6%)
2005 Lee Scott/Wal-Mart $19 million (med. household income = 0.2%)
Compensation of highly paid athlete vs. Median Household
In actual dollars for each year
1965 Joe Namath/football $142,333 (med. household income = 5%)
1975 Pele/soccer $1.5 million (median household income = 0.8%)
1985 Mike Schmidt/baseball $2.1 million (median household income = 1.1%)
1995 Michael Jordan/basketball $40 million (median household income = 0.1%)
2005 Tiger Woods/golf $87 million (median household income = 0.1%)
I remember when Bill Russell of the Celtics signed a $100,000 a year contract in the mid 60's.That got wall to wall coverage (around Boston,at least) for days and days.
In 1967 I was six years old.
We had one tv that showed three stations. I had a hula hoop, a clothes line that doubled as a jump rope, six Barbies and lots of friends. We had chores to do and could not play until they were done. I washed dishes by hand, we were the only ones in the neighborhood to have a clothes dryer, one car and could take the bus to the local shopping center where the lady at the bakery would give free cookies to the gaggle of kids buying bread. (my mom would write notes to the local Dairy Dell to let me buy cigarettes for her!)
In 2006, my daughter is six years old.
We have four tvs with satellite, two VCRs, two DVDs, twenty computers, a laptop, an old but workable game system, and a room full of toys. I drive my daughters to see their friends because all the moms work to get even MORE things for their kids in daycare. We have a dishwasher, a microwave, washer and dryer and two cars. I make a special point to "teach" the kids to do chores so they know how to do them.
I was happy in 1967.
My daughter is happy too but we are trying to downsize "stuff".
Men's & Womens Income Source:Census Bureau
Net Worth Source: Moody's Economy.com
Savings Source:Commerce Department
Misery Index Source: miseryindex.us
Tax Rate Source:taxpolicycenter.org
Purchasing Power Sources:Census Bureau, miseryindex.us
Home Ownership Source: St. Louis Fed
Productivity Sources: Moody's Economy.com
Women in Workforce Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Comparisons Sources: Census Bureau, General Motors, Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart
It appears to be true that Americans are much wealthier than 40 years ago. It might be worth considering how this can be when American industry has been moving offshore at the same time.
In '65 a new car ran about $3500, now $35,000. Houses have made almost the same jump.
The feeling of entitlement is one of those holdovers from the golden age of marxist utopia. Commerce on the planet now, and the economies of the western countries, is not understood by most and is definitely not marxist, so they latched onto the last thing they imagine they understood, which was marxism. Unfortunately for those in elementary political econ, it is not capitalism either.
Twenty computers??
That's probably the biggest one. People today might feel "poor" if they have only a cell phone and not an iPod, not recognizing that 30 years ago neither was available no matter how rich you were.
Health costs were in cash or cheque to a doctor, and were much lower per capita.
And also much less effective. You didn't spend $100k on cancer treatment; you just died. That's not to say health care today isn't much more expensive than it should be, but returning to 1967 wouldn't be an improvement.
Taking all this into account, there really is no way to compare then and now as far as income vs. quality of life.
One way to put it into perspective is to ask yourself whether you'd prefer to live in 2006 with the median income of 1967, or in 1967 with the median income of 2006. I choose today with 1967's income, and it's not close.
I remember 1967 very well, and the average America family was much better off economically then than now. These flim-flam "statistics" they throw at us today are just a lot of smoke and mirrors. How's this for a real statistic? In 1967 my parents could afford to buy a nice home in a middle class neighborhood in a desirable suburb, and there were six children and only one job, (my father's). And his job was a menial laborer's job. Furthermore, mothers back then could stay home and raise their children without the necessity of going to work to help pay the mortgage and put food on the table. The rule-of-thumb back then with banks was that the mortgage, (and rents), should be roughly 1/4th of your monthly salary. Accept for the upper middle class today, and the wealthy, I cannot imagine a family paying only one quarter of their income for their mortgage.
There are other important factors too. College education being a big one. In 1967 I think that state colleges cost about $500. per year to attend, maybe less. Books were a dime a dozen. Today, college is prohibitively expensive for most people, even state collegtes. Gasoline was dirt cheap, about 33 cents a gallon. A movie theatre ticket was 75 cents and the consession snacks and drinks were 10 cents. Public transportation was a nickle. A slice of pizza was a dime. Stamps were 5 cents. Candy bars were 5 cents and were twice the size of today's version. Jobs were static and secure, with no need for about two or three career changes as in today's economy. Prices were stable too, and when costs rose they were always minimal. A "usable" used car, (one that still had a dependable year left on it), could be bought for $100.00, or less. Utilities were dirt cheap, and I mean dirt cheap. Restaurants did not tax your meals, state sales taxes had not yet been introduced in my state, (which meant you got to keep at least 5 - 8% more of your income then). There were no federal "line charges" on your telephones, auto inspection stickers were $1.00,; you could enjoy a major league baseball game in the bleacher (cheap) seats for 50 cents; and on and on it goes. In other words, no matter how small your paycheck may have been, you got to keep most of it and you could stretch it out quite far.
Unless you consider electronic gadgets to be the "economy", it is laughable to claim that today's economy is better than it was in 1967.
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