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Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile
Interesting but I'm not so sure it matters much if it doesn't translate to greater buying power. That's the real issue (hence why I brought up sending).
It could be that this is evidence of inflation, not real-dollar wage increases. If dollar numbers go up and people can't buy more with their money (evidenced by either greater savings, greater spending, lower loan default rates, etc.) what's the point? It's a zero-sum game. That's my point.
I don't trust the government numbers for inflation for a minute. I think there's considerable inflationary pressure out there, but it's being downplayed/spun to avoid throwing markets into a panic.
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POP: The numbers are inflation adjusted which means it is a REAL increase. The 24% is based on reported income to the IRS, all income, and then adjusted for inflation. The 24% is the REAL gain in spending power.
The most intersting part to note is that the after inflation adjusted numbers for the top 5% and top 1% of earners, decreased. The top earners are not keeping up with inflation, while the lower wage earners are gaining faster than inflation.