Archive for July 2012

Why don’t we feel 63 percent richer?

I don’t think the average non-economist appreciates just how much richer and more productive the U.S. economy is today than it was three decades ago. For the typical American, the large increase in economic inequality has masked most, if not all, of the progress. Janelle Jones and I prepared the table below for a CEPR […]

International comparisons of median wealth

I missed this while I was on vacation, but don’t want to let it pass by: when it comes to median household wealth, the United States is near the bottom of  the major OECD countries. Dylan Matthews had a nice post reviewing the data, including the graph below, at Wonkblog. Remember, wealth is the total […]

Why Don’t More Young People Go to College?

Heather Boushey and I have a piece in the new issue of Challenge that asks why more young people don’t follow the advice of economists and go to college. We think two factors are particularly important. First of all, while it is certainly the case that the average college graduate earns a lot more than […]

Ann Romney, MS, and the ACA

The cover story of this morning’s USA Today is what the paper describes as a “candid” interview with aspiring First Lady Ann Romney. The piece focuses on her diagnosis, 14 years ago, of multiple sclerosis (MS). By all accounts, Romney is warm, down-to-earth, and has a good sense of humor. She also speaks eloquently in […]