{"id":2096,"date":"2017-08-01T16:37:49","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T20:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/?p=2096"},"modified":"2017-08-01T16:38:03","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T20:38:03","slug":"are-we-better-off-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/01\/are-we-better-off-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Are we better off today?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Are<\/a><\/p>\n

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Are we better off today than in the 1960s? That is what I going to try to answer on today\u2019s blog.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Per Fortune Magazine<\/a>, \u201cthe economy grew at a whopping 6.6%, fueled by the Kennedy tax cuts and a resurgent Europe demanding products made in America. That was long before the rise of Japan sent trade deficits soaring and well before automation and one billion Chinese workers took the shine off the American manufacturing sector<\/em>.\u201d Today our economy is growing<\/a> at only 2.6% in the second quarter of this year. That in itself is a very large downturn from what was happening in the 1960s, but to be fair I have to point out that President Trump has not been in office very long and any thing he might do will take time to show up in our economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As to the fact back in the \u2018Good old days\u2019 we were one of the leading manufacturing countries and today we make very little ourselves anymore. The primary maker of US consumer goods of course is China and many of our goods made for business are also made in that country.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Again per the article Fortune Magazine, \u201cVoters are pretty nostalgic for this time too. A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center<\/a> showed that a plurality of Americans, 46%, say that life was better for Americans fifty years ago than today. And who could blame them? For those who lived through it, the 1960s were a time of plentiful jobs and rapidly growing living standards.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

But economists will point out that while living standards may have been rising faster fifty years ago, the average American is much richer today than he was in the 1960s. According to a survey of business, academic and financial economists<\/a> by the <\/em>Wall Street Journal<\/em>, the vast majority (80%) of economists “say [living] standards are higher today than during the 1990s or earlier. “<\/em>\u201d And furthermore \u201cBetween technology and health advances, today is much better than in 1960,” Amy Crews Cutts, chief economist at Equifax<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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So while we perceive that the 1960s look better than today, reality is the fact that we as a group have more money, a better standard of living and much better healthcare than our ancestors. So it is my guess that looking back in time seems for many is a distorted picture that does not ring true.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In wrapping up I also remember the good old days as having race riots, gender discrimination, the fear of the world ending due to a nuclear war, a much more polluted environment, healthcare that was much more primitive and not having much money.<\/span><\/p>\n

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So my answer to the question I asked in the beginning is yes we are better off in many ways, but we have a long way to go yet before it can be said that we are truly better for the majority of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

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That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike<\/span><\/p>\n