In this Substack, it was shown that, since at least 1995, median purchasing power in America has been falling. The middle class is being “gutted out” due to a vast expansion of government interventions into the economy.
Here is a longer time series using just nonsupervisory (blue collar) workers.
Energy — Gasoline
As you can see, 45 years ago in 1978, blue collar workers earned wages that would be equivalent to 317 gallons of gasoline per week. Here is what they earn today:
Only 274 gallons of gasoline per week. Workers from 1978 could buy 16% more gasoline than workers from 2023, although there is a lot of volatility. Even with price volatility though, a 45-year trend ought to show improvement in the affordability of a standard of living.
Energy — Electricity
Back in 2000, weekly wages were equivalent to 5,500 kiloWatt-hours of electricity:
After falling for a decade, the purchasing power of electricity for workers rebounded, so that almost 4% more electricity could be purchased:
But having 4% more over the span of 22 years is not a “success” and a free market in energy production would have led to much more purchasing power for American workers.
Food — Eggs
Blue collar workers in the year 2000 earned the equivalent of 546 cartons of eggs per week. But they don’t even earn half as much today:
The 2023 value of 231 cartons of eggs per week is a 43-year low, indicating that the vast expansion of US government into the US economy over 4 decades is taking a toll on the affordability of a given standard of living — causing middle-class plight.
Again there is price volatility, but beyond that volatility is a long-run trend. That trend has been a trend down ever since 2000.
Perhaps the worst sin of government intervention into the economy is in housing. Back in 1964, blue collar workers could afford to buy a median-priced home with less than 4 years of wages:
But after a vast expansion of government interventions (regulations and centralized spending), it now takes over 8 years of blue-collar wages to buy a median-priced home:
Evidence suggests that the federal government needs to down-size, to become small and unobtrusive like it was back in the 1950s under President Eisenhower. It is unacceptable that the number of pages of federal regulations is 19 times higher than it was in 1950:
By interfering with the freedom of people by so much, the government is eroding the affordability of a living standard in the USA.
Because the Great Reset merely represents an even more vast interference into the economic activities of people, it will only accelerate the downward trend in the affordability of a living standard. For this reason, people should be against it.
Reference
Reg Stats. Regulatory Studies Center. Columbian College of Arts & Sciences. George Washington University. https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/reg-stats
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Hourly Earnings of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees, Total Private [CEU0500000008], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CEU0500000008
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Weekly Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees, Total Private [CEU0500000007], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CEU0500000007
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price: Gasoline, Unleaded Regular (Cost per Gallon/3.785 Liters) in U.S. City Average [APU000074714], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU000074714
U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States [MSPUS], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price: Eggs, Grade A, Large (Cost per Dozen) in U.S. City Average [APU0000708111], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000708111
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price: Electricity per Kilowatt-Hour in U.S. City Average [APU000072610], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU000072610