For households at the median level of net worth, much of the damage has occurred since the start of the last recession in 2007. Until then, net worth had been rising for the typical household, although at a slower pace than for households in higher wealth brackets. But much of the gain for many typical households came from the rising value of their homes. Exclude that housing wealth and the picture is worse: Median net worth began to decline even earlier.We noted on yesterday's Don and Doug webcast that household incomes, when separated from government entitlements and other transfers, have also long been in decline.
Yes, the Times prefers to play the "rich get richer" theme high in its story. But I think an overall decline in household wealth and income reveals something much bigger than the kind of class envy that progressives are hoping to invoke.
Bottom line, I think those who've been bent on hiding our decline realize their decade-long (give or take a few years) efforts are about to fall apart, their facades are crumbling.
Mainstream media like the Times now seems to sense a mission to either explain it away, or attempt to spin widespread personal economic decline in such a way to do the least possible damage to the political and crony capitalist status quo.
Obama's strategy despite his rhetoric to the contrary has been to create 2 classes of people, the very rich and the very poor. the middle class has been nailed with his economic policies. It is the elitist and the serfs. He is trying to recreate the feudal system with a modern twist.
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