Jimi Izrael:
On April 24, I did a pretty extensive breakdown of Skrippology (and headz still want more, so stay tuned) and then, later on that same day, ABC News has a really sterilized version of the same story, kind of outlining the same facts. I also heard that some cat on MSNBC (Andy Deutch) was trying to kick science on skrippers, and that it sounded awfully familiar to some jdotscom headz. Coincidence? Caint call it. Actually, I call it the vapors... you call it what you want.
I can't complain though. You wrote a long, detailed thing...my examples tend to be too terse for mainstream media, i.e Income Averaging
One of the reasons for the disconnect between statistics and most people's quality of life is where prices rise and fall.
Most everybody these days can point to their own list of rising expenses. Electricity, air travel, medical care and even staples such as diapers cost more. Rents are jumping as the housing boom cools, just as property taxes are soaring to reflect the price appreciation of the hotter days.
Plus, interest charges are rising on credit card balances, home-equity lines of credit and adjustable-rate mortgages.
This is how it feels when the days of cheap energy and easy money give way to $70 barrels of oil and ascending interest rates. The economy may be strong, but many people are feeling pinched.
I find it interesting how the price of necessities climb while the price of crap, frills and luxuries fall.
.vs Basics, Not Luxuries, Blamed for High Debt in the Washington Post (which frankly is a better piece than mine for public comsumption).
Why are Americans so deeply in debt? It's not because they are using credit cards to buy plasma TVs and premium coffee drinks at Starbucks. The real culprits, according to a new analysis, are the rising costs of housing, health care and education.
The debt of the typical American family earning about $45,000 a year rose 33.1 percent from 2001 to 2004, after adjusting for inflation, according to a study based on data compiled from the Federal Reserve Board's most recent Survey of Consumer Finances. The Fed report, released in February, gave raw numbers on debt levels. The new study analyzed the data more closely to determine the sources of debt. It was conducted by the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank that describes itself as progressive and is run by former Clinton White House chief of staff John D. Podesta.
Real wages, after adjusting for inflation, have been flat since 2001, according to the study, while the cost of big-ticket items for which families pay the most rose. In the past five years, the costs of medical care, housing, food, cars and household operations rose 11.2 percent, the study said. Many families are trying to make up the difference by borrowing, according to Christian E. Weller, author of the report and a senior economist at the center.
"Very little can be explained by frivolous consumer spending," Weller said. His views were echoed in a news conference by Elizabeth Warren, a law professor at Harvard University who analyzed the sources of debt that emerge in bankruptcy filings and reviewed the results of Weller's study.
"The average American family is walking a high wire and hoping there won't be a high wind," Warren said.
