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Old 02-16-2010, 03:18 PM   #15
housemouse2
Avalon Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 117
Default Re: Today, the problem isn’t over-population, it’s over-consumption

I saw a presentation on the disappearing middle class in America not long ago. I cannot recall the lady's name that did the presentation but is on the web.

The presentation was done by a Harvard professor who merely crunched numbers and compared a 4 person family from 40 years ago to today. What she found to my surprise was not "over consumption" but rather the cost of living had surpasses the rate of inflation even with 2 income homes of today.

Housing had increased 75% past the rate of inflation alone.

The average male now makes 5% less a year than the average male did 40 years ago.

Cost of food was interesting: We buy less meat than our parents did but we do buy more pasta. We also rely on grocery stores when in the past we had more family farms.

transportation: We do have more cars per familily today but also keep them longer than they did 40 years ago.

Insurance has increased 50% past the rate of inflation.

Education is also different now. Public schools have gone up 50% past the rate of inflation. But more concerning is college which has shot up 400% past the rate of inflation. And due to the abundance of degrees and lack of jobs...college is now a waste of an investment.
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