A rising tide that lifts only yachts (the economy under Bush)

[papau]

...increased income insecurity, wages lagging behind prices and deteriorating health benefits... the economic expansion of 2003 and 2004..(was) no better for the median American than the recession of 1990-91...From 1990 to 1991, 13% of households saw their income decline by $20,000 or more in real terms ...(while) in 2003-04, it was 16.6%. And the difference didn't come in steep falls for the rich; rather, the top income quintile saw a reduction in negative income mobility.


http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-klein5may05,0,4799095.story?track=tottext

A rising tide that lifts only yachts
By Ezra Klein May 5, 2006

<snip>And they had cause for such enthusiasm. From January through March, the economy shot forward, growing by 4.8% — the largest increase in nearly three years and a stunningly rapid recovery after the previous quarter's Katrina-dampened 1.7%.<snip>

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten has promised "more happy talk about the economy" as part of his five-point plan for righting the president's poll numbers. And President Bush himself has been bragging that "thanks to tax relief, and spending restraint, and pro-growth economic policies, this economy is strong, businesses are booming and the people in this country are working."

Strangely, though, the public doesn't seem to be listening. Americans are more than twice as likely to give pollsters a negative assessment of the economy as a positive one — 64% disapprove of Bush's handling of the economy. It's strange. The macroeconomic numbers are decidedly robust, but the public remains determinedly glum.

If you dig a bit deeper than the base growth statistics, though, the picture clarifies considerably. Our economy has grown so starkly unequal that the statistician's view now says surprisingly little about the average American's experience. Last quarter may have seen 4.8% growth, but hidden in those numbers was a depressing factoid: Wages had only grown 0.7% — slower than housing, health or gasoline costs. <snip>

[European Socialist]

1. I'm still waiting for the rising tide to lift my row boat.

[babylonsister]

2. I wish I HAD a rowboat. nt

[Vidar]

3. Great title.

[awoke_in_2003]

4. Don't be so insensitive

of course a rising tide lifts all yachts. Well, just the other day, I paid $5 to Pablo and Juan to wax my decks, now isn't that the way it should be :sarcasm: