Thread by @Noahpinion

We tend to think of the early and mid 2000s as "good" economic times.

But here's a picture of real median weekly earnings for full-time employees.

The last 5 years look a lot better than the Bush era!!

It's true that when we look at real median personal income (which includes benefits, investment income, and government transfers) looks, the early and mid 2000s look more equal to the late 2010s.

And more people had jobs in the early and mid 00s than in recent years.

But if I had to identify one big economic difference between the early/mid 00s and the late 2010s, it would be wealth, not income or employment.

The early/mid 00s saw big increases in middle-class wealth. That wealth hasn't come back.

We tend to think about labor markets and stock markets when assessing the health of the economy, but most of middle-class Americans' wealth is in their primary residence.

And why do younger people feel less economic optimism?

I think the fact that Millennials aren't buying houses at the same rate as older generations is a very important story here.

urban.org/sites/default/…

The idea that even a middle-class family can have a nice McMansion in the burbs, and that this McMansion will go up in price and deliver a comfortable retirement, felt common in the early/mid 00s, and even seemed to make sense.

Not so today.

The crushing of American middle-class housing wealth was an unprecedented, singular event in postwar American history. And I believe we still underrate its importance to this day.

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