In 2015, household income grew at the fastest rate on record, the poverty rate fell faster than at any point since 1968, and the uninsured rate continued to fall.
That was the title of an article the White House decided to publish on this website when the Presidential Campaign was at full steam. Median income increased +5.2%, the fastest growth rate since Income started getting measured in 1968!
On the next picture we can observe how Barack Obama is PROUDLY presenting these very stats. This is, by all means, a TREMENDOUS result for him during his last year of presidency. And, of course, a VERY handy piece of data for his successor Hillary Clinton – clear evidence that the current strategy is the right one!
A few hours later the Los Angeles Times published an article with the same data from the Census Bureau report although, adding a footnote below:
They changed the Income Questions’ Methodology in order to demonstrate growth!
The Question is: “What is going on??”
Further digging into the Census Bureau’s comparison guide & footnotes reveals the following:
Extract from Census Bureau website. First noticed by David Stockman
Actual growth for 2015 was the 5.2% marketed by Obama’s administration LESS the above 3.2%... only +2.0%!
And Who Profited From This +2% growth?
….Well, actually more than just 2%...
The graph below shows that during 2015 the income of the richest 5% (GREEN line) increased +13.6%
And half of the US population with lower income (RED line) were on LOWER salaries than what they were on in 1973.
Source: Economic Policy Institute
In other words, the REAL economy did NOT grow and the entire money printing machine ONLY made the richest even richer!