1/ Is American capitalism broken, as populists and progressives insist? Or is the American Dream alive and well? Here are a few🌞data nuggets gleaned from this powerful analysis by @AEI colleague and economist @MichaelRStrain. wsj.com/articles/the-a…
2/ No upward mobility? Around three-quarters of people in their 40s today have higher (inflation-adjusted) household incomes than their parents did when their parents were of similar age. And 72% of men raised in the working class earn more than their dads did.
3/ Stagnant wages? Since summer 1990 (a peak in the business cycle), wages for the typical US worker have increased by 33%, after accounting for inflation.
4/ Stagnant incomes? The median household saw market income gains of 21% between 1990 and 2016. Add in taxes and transfers and it’s 44%, according to @USCBO. And the bottom 20% saw their post-tax-and-transfer income grow by 66% over these years. 
5/ A hollowed-out middle class? From 1967-2018, there was a drop in the share of households with inflation-adjusted income between $35,000 and $100,000. BUT also a drop in those earning less. The share of households earning over $100,000 has tripled to 30%. @uscensusbureau
6/ Rigged economy? Over the past four years, data from @BLS_gov show weekly nominal earnings for workers in the bottom 10% have grown by 19%, over a third faster than growth at the median.
7/ Soaring inequality? “While the level of inequality is relatively high, its growth for at least a decade has been quite slow, or even declining.” Example: The ratio of the 90th percentile of usual weekly earnings to the 10th percentile increased by only 2% between 2007-2019.
Final/ The stagnation narrative is wrong. And rather than wallow in economic nostalgia — often for times past that never really existed for many Americans — let's learn from our successes and try to make tomorrow even better for all. @MichaelRStrain concludes thusly:
