Consumption

Consumer Spending vs Wealth 1953-2008 [White House]

by Catherine Mulbrandon on March 20, 2009

From Economic Report of the President found via Economix Blog – NYTimes.com. The graph compares the % change in consumer spending (dark line) to % change in household wealth.

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Adoption of New Technology since 1900

by Catherine Mulbrandon on February 18, 2008

Historical graph showing the adoption of new technologies in the United States (designed by Nicholas Felton that I found via the New York Times). For example look at percentage of households that had telephones over the last 100 years and compared this to the time it took for cellphones to be adopted.

12/23/2010 I found a more detailed version of this graphic at Karl Hartig’s portfolio site. Download pdf here

{Click on the image to take a closer look}
adoption of new technologies magnifying glass

[tags]consumption, technology, United States[/tags]

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Has Middle America’s Wages Stagnated?

by Catherine Mulbrandon on November 4, 2007

{Click on the image to take a closer look}
Avg Hourly Earnings magnafing glass

I found a Federal Reserve article that analyzed the change in Average Hourly Earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers. After adjusting for inflation using the Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) {instead of the Consumer Price Index-Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)} and including an estimate for worker’s benefits, the author concluded that workers’ hourly earnings (wages plus benefits) actually increased by 16% over 30 years (1975-2005) rather than decreased. Here, I graphed the full history, 1964-2006, but used the approach laid out in the article to show the effect of inflation and benefits. BTW, if you earned $16.76 an hour in 2006 that gave you an annual income of $33,520 (assuming you worked full-time).

See also:
Average Income in the United States
Total Income of Top, Middle, & Bottom

[tags]income distribution, income inequality, Federal Reserve, wages, middle class[/tags]

Addendum: This was past on to me from a reader who found it on Marginal Revolution

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