Rethinking the U.S. prosperity gap
The gap “between the haves and have-nots” is narrower than we think, say W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm in The New York Times. It is true that “the share of national income” going to the rich has increased while the poor “saw their piece of the pie fall,” but “household consumption” is a “far more direct measure of American families’ economic status.” The income gap between the top fifth and bottom fifth is “15 to 1,” but the consumption gap is only “4 to 1.” And consumption is a better measure of “prosperity” now because most of us can now afford TVs, cars, and other “conveniences” once reserved for the rich. “Simply put, the poor are less poor.”
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