That Mental Recession

All the economic fundamentals are sound, we hear. I am not an economist and I wouldn't attempt to figure this out on my own. I am doing ok, but that is mainly because I don't have children (for a different view, from someone who most definitely has children, this).*

Here, however, are some facts from TPM that I see no reason to question yet.

After adjusting for inflation, median household income has declined by $1175 since 2000. At the same time, the real cost of basic necessities rose, with the average family spending $4655 more on gas, mortgages, food, health insurance, and appliances. Families with children have faced even greater increases, with annual child care costs up by $1508 and average net state college tuitions up by $1050.

This leads into an anti-tax cut rant which you can read or not. But I do love discrete facts, especially when they have numbers. Makes it look real.



*and Carmen does her share of bringing home the bacon as a retired federal worker with a part time job.