People today aren’t so much keeping up with the Joneses as keeping up with our former selves. Things we used to be able to afford are suddenly too expensive. It’s not because we make less money nominally but that everything costs so much more. And so when commentators talk about people not getting a raise in 20 years, that’s what they’re talking about. The earning power of our money is less.
This doesn’t even get into the situation of people’s whose nominal income has been flat — or worse, has slid — but who are still forced to pay higher prices that assume a much higher income level. Read More
