The Real Price of Gold since 1791

In 2008, I graphed the annual US price of gold. In this post, I revisit gold but this time I graphed the market price along with the real price (adjusted for inflation using 2012 dollars). When you take the inflation into account, the annual price of gold has spiked over $1,700 twice since the US left the gold standard, once in 1980 and again in 2012.

In this graphic, I briefly touch upon the history of gold standard. Beginning in 1792, the US Mint pegged the dollar to gold and silver. In 1900 the US went on the gold standard (i.e. the dollar was pegged just to gold). During this time, except for monetary crisises, the market price for gold matched the "official" price set by the US government. In the 1970s, the US finally left the gold standard and allowed the dollar to float freely on international currency markets.

Data from MeasuringWorth.org . Graphs created in OmniGraphSketcher then pasted into Illustrator. 

What Has Happened to Middle-Income Households since 1945?

I dug up at the US Census Bureau serveral reports about family and individual income and created a series of graphs plotting the income distribution of households under $100,000 a year adjusted for inflation. (Pages 17, 18, 19 from my Income Guide)

I am defining middle-income households as $30,000-$80,000. One of the stories these graph tell is that for 20+ years after 1945 more households entered the "middle class". However, over the next 40 years, the percent of middle-income households shrank in part because the percent of households with more than $80,000 a year grew. 

Graphs created in OmniGraphSketcher and annotated in Illustrator. Data from the US Census. You take a look at some of the older reports they have online here:

US Census Bureau. “Families and Individual Money Income in the United States: 1945. Table 2.” September 2011. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-002.pdf.

———. “Income of Families and Persons in the United States: 1950. Table 1.” September 2011.  http://www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-009.pdf.

———. “Income of Families and Persons in the United States: 1960. Table 5.” September 2011.  http://www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-037.pdf.

———. “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010. Table A-2.” September 2011. http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf.

Stagnating Wages but Increasing Incomes

More excerpts from An Illustrated Guide to Income in the United States (Pages 66, 68, 69).

In my previous post, I looked at wages, showing that for many occupations, they have not kept up with the overall growth of the economy. But what about the growing number households with incomes well above the national average of $67,500? (Focus on the orange lines/area in the 3 graphs below)

Click on the images for a closer look. This will open a lightbox the same size as the browser window.

In 1945, less than 10% of family households had incomes above $80,000 (adjusted for inflation) steadily increasing to 30% in the late 1990s. They continued to increase up until 2000 even while wages flatten or dropped.

Looking at the bottom graph, the number of family households with two earners grew and surpassed number of single earner household in the late 1960s. This growth mirrors the growth of families with $80,000 or more a year. One can easily assume that second earner in these households were women as women entered the labor force in larger numbers boosting their family's income. 

Note: Single people living alone are not included in "Family Households," bottom graph, but are included in "All Households," top graph.

In 2010, 72% of the households with income above $80,000 a year have two or more earners compared to 41% of households with income between $30,000 and $80,000. It is this increase in the number of two-earner households that accounts for household incomes increasing when wages have not.

To learn more about Income in the US buy or read the book.

Data for households came from the US Census

US Census Bureau. “Historical Income Tables: Households.” June 2011. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/household/index.html.

US Census Bureau. “Table HINC-01. Selected Characteristics of Households, by Total Money Income in 2010.” 2012. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032011/hhinc/new01_001.htm

 (See bibliography for additional data)