First, we can easily dismiss the notion that the poor are getting poorer. All the Census Bureau tells us is that the share of the pie consumed by the poor has been shrinking (to 3.4% in 2006 from 4.1% in 1970). But the “pie” has grown enormously. This year’s real GDP of $14 trillion is three times that of 1970. So the absolute size of the slice received by the bottom 20% has increased to $476 billion from $181 billion. Allowing for population growth shows that the average income of people at the bottom of the income distribution has risen 36%.
They’re not rich, but they’re certainly not poorer. In reality, economic growth has raised incomes across the board.
… The “typical” household, however, keeps changing. Since 1970 there has been a dramatic rise in divorced, never-married and single-person households. Back in 1970, the married Ozzie and Harriet family was the norm: 71% of all U.S. households were two-parent families. Now the ratio is only 51%. In the process of this social revolution, the average household size has shrunk to 2.57 persons from 3.14 — a drop of 18%. The meaning? Even a “stagnant” average household income implies a higher standard of living for the average household member.
There’s nothing like an American presidential campaign to get people lying about the U.S. economy in particular and capitalism in general. Remember how the Reagan-era boom suddenly became breadlines and homelessness as the New York Times campaigned for Bill Clinton?
If you don’t remember National Review’s “The Real Reagan Record,” start reading here.This also happens to be my favorite NR cover ever: