News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 18, 2015: First of all no invitation to The White House yet for my publisher and myself. I hope she invites me if she gets invited. You will be the first to know. I promise!
This week we have something fun for President Obama I found in The New York Times Thursday. No not their crossword puzzle better an article. It’s a word puzzle. Here is the title of the article …
“Why Americans Still Think the Economy Is Terrible?”
Your job Mr. President is to figure out this puzzle.
Don’t worry, I will give you lots of hints. I realize the weekend is fast approaching and golf is what is on our mind. So let’s start …
“If your entire understanding of the economy comes from headlines about the latest economic data, you would be forgiven for thinking these are the best of times. The unemployment rate is down to 5.1 percent, after all!”
That’s a tough one right off the bat. What do you think?
I think it is time for another hint …
“If your entire understanding of the economy comes from what is going on in financial markets, you would be forgiven for thinking the same. The stock market, its recent dip notwithstanding, is still not far from all-time highs!”
O God the puzzle is just getting even tougher to solve. Sorry.
Here is some real help Mr. President …
“That’s what makes the latest annual data on incomes, released by the Census Bureau on Wednesday morning, an important corrective.”
ALL RIGHT let’s keep going. What is next …
“The median American household in 2014 had a lower income, in inflation-adjusted terms, than it did in 2013. The $53,657 the household in the middle of the income distribution earned last year was down 1.5 percent from the year before, though the census said that shift was not statistically significant.”
Hmmmm do you see that Barack ….
“ Though the census said that shift was not statistically significant.”
Maybe that is just to throw you off. Let’s keep going …
“The 2014 real median income number is 6.5 percent below its 2007, pre-crisis level. It is 7.2 percent below the number in 1999.”
Now we are getting somewhere. Here is more …
“A middle-income American family, in other words, makes substantially less money in inflation-adjusted terms than it did 15 years ago. And there is no evidence that is reversing. Those families lost ground in 2014. And as we’ve reported previously, the data on wages in 2015 so far does not suggest there is a meaningful acceleration on the way.”
Better digest that clue ….
“A middle-income American family, in other words, makes substantially less money in inflation-adjusted terms than it did 15 years ago. And there is no evidence that is reversing.”
NO evidence it is reversing! Don’t forget that clue Mr. President.
Ok. ok let’s keep going …
Ah look at this trick clue to confuse you …
“A drop in the price of oil, though, has created a short-term drop in inflation numbers that may create a temporary bump in inflation-adjusted incomes for 2015 anyway.”
This puzzle is slippery. Get it. Oil!! Slippery. Funny …
Here is a MAJOR clue ..
“Stagnant incomes were a problem in 2013 remained so in 2014. The evidence we have so far suggests nothing about that is changing in 2015. That is reality shaping the backdrop to the 2016 presidential campaign, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate debates and dinnertime table conversations about the state of the economies in families across the United States.”
We are close to solving this puzzle Mr. President …
Looks like REALITY is the key to solving it!
And here is the final piece you need …
“The latest census numbers may not be surprising, in the sense that they affirm a trend that has been underway for 15 years and counting. But they are a timely reminder of what really ails the economy.”
Well have you solved the puzzle President Obama?
YES … life has NOT improved for most Americans with you as President!
