YOU DECIDE: Is it easy to measure progress? March 21, 2008 MEDIA
CONTACT: Dr. Mike Walden, 919.515.4671 or email@example.com With
talk of recession in the air, we're seeing more stories about
whether households have really gotten ahead, economically
speaking, in recent years. Some analysis shows the average
household's wages and income actually retreated this decade;
indeed; some claim this has been the situation for more than
three decades. Yet other readers of the economic data come to
the exact opposite conclusion. After sifting and sorting the
numbers, they argue the average household has never had it so
good in terms of what they can earn and buy. How can smart
people come to such different conclusions? You'd think it would
be fairly easy to determine if people have made economic
progress. However, by the time you finish this article, you may
decide it's not! There are several factors complicating the
simple question of "are we better off today?" First is the "we"
part; that is, who are we measuring? Inc