alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

August 31, 2005

More Money Going To Fewer People

by kim @ 3:42 pm. Filed under Uncategorized

Somedays I wish the Washington Post’s writers and editors would read the Post rather than spending their time sniffing out their rivals at the New York Times.

For instance, there’s an article in today’s ePost posted at 11:10 am that will presumably form the basis for an article in the print edition tomorrow. Here’s the lede:

WASHINGTON — The economy grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the second quarter, slightly less than initially estimated but still a solid performance, especially given galloping energy prices.

The new reading for the gross domestic product (GDP) for the April-to-June, quarter released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, showed a tad less robust growth than the 3.4 percent pace first estimated for the quarter by the government a month ago.

The article goes on to mention that after-tax profits rose by 6.9% and unemployment was steady at 5%.

Sounds pretty good, no? Without looking I’ll bet that one of the usual suspects is typing away something along the lines of “this will be last gasp for the trickle-down naysayers. Reaganomics worked then, and it’s working now- the left’s blind hatred of Bush is just keeping them from seeing it. Meanwhile, the so-called ‘reality-based’ wonder why the American people won’t trust them with the economy.”

The catch here is that on page A3 of today’s Post, we have:

Poverty
Rate
Continues
To Climb
2004 Census Data
Show Labor Market
Is Still Struggling



Despite robust economic
growth last year, 1.1 million more
Americans slipped into poverty in
2004, while household incomes
stagnated and earnings fell, the
Census Bureau reported yesterday.
The number of Americans
without health insurance rose by
800,000, to 45.8 million.

The Census Bureau’s annual report
on income, poverty and
health insurance sheds light on
voter discontent with the economy
in the face of seemingly strong
economic data. The broad data
draw a picture of a labor market
still struggling to find its footing,
three years after the 2001 recession.

…

The median household income
stood at $44,389 last year, down
slightly from the 2003 level of
$44,482. But that level was
propped up by more people going
to work for lower earnings. A fulltime
male worker earned a median
income of $40,798 last year, down
$963 in inflation-adjusted dollars
from 2003. Women’s median earnings
fell $327, to $31,223.

Think about that: tax incentives for the wealthy have resulted in lower median household income.

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hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.

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