Thread by @porterstansb

What I see in America today is a country on the cusp of a major collapse in our standard of living. You should always ignore the government’s manipulated data and look at real world indicators, like: the price of Ford F-150 and the price of gold. Look at standards that are universal, like life expectancy, infant mortality, and electrical usage per capita.

-- Life expectancy is in free fall in the U.S., even as it rebounds around the world, post Covid. In '23 it declined for an unprecedented 2nd year in a row, to 76. Worse, pediatric mortality is also rising, something that's never happened before.

-- Infant mortality is soaring, with to 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, up 60% (!) since 2021. This, to me, is the most devastating critiques of Obamacare. We spend more than anyone else in the world and still get terrible results. But will the government get out of the way? Never.

And here's the jaw-dropper: electricity consumption per capita (which is the best real-world measure of a country’s wealth) has fallen virtually every year since 1980 and, by 2020, had reached the same level as 1964.

Or, how about my favorite real-world indicator: the Ford F-150. How much better has government’s enormous and never-ending growth, made our lives? Let’s find out, using the reliable old Ford F-150.

In 1973, Ford launched a new version of it’s F-series of pickup trucks. Called the “Dentside” (because of a long styling indent down the side of the vehicle), this generation of F-series trucks offered a slew of innovations: a wider, flatter bed; the first extended cab design; and, most importantly, the first F-150 model

In 1973, the MSRP for an F-series truck was $2,800. With some options (and the undercarriage protection that dealer pushed on your wife) the actual retail cost was $3,000. In 1973, the median individual income in the U.S. in 1973 was $6,795; the median family income was $12,000. And the average weekly wage was $130. So, putting these figures into F-150 units:

· The average American worker was earning 2.2 F-150s every year.
· The average American household was earning 3 F-150s each year.
· The average American had to spend 20 weeks at work to buy a new truck (38% of his working year).

Capitalism incentivizes greater productivity, as entrepreneurs compete for market share by ruthlessly cutting costs and investing in innovations to lower the cost of production. There’s hardly a more globally competitive market than autos.

And Ford is one of the world’s leading R&D companies; it spends almost $10 billion per year on R&D today. Surely then, over the last 50 years, the real price of the Ford F-150 has gotten vastly less expensive, right? If our free-market system works, that is exactly what you should expect to see.

While economic theory says it’s price should have gone down over time, thanks to the government’s endless deficit spending and its paper money, a new F-150 costs $40,000 (that’s13x more than 50 years ago…). Today the median individual income in the U.S. is $60,000; the median family income is $77,000. And the average weekly wage (for men) is $1,227. So, putting these figures into F-150 units:

· The average American worker now earns 1.5 F-150s every year.
· The average American household was earning 1.9 F-150s each year.
· The average American had to spend 32 weeks at work to buy a new truck (61% of his working year).

Our purchasing power used to track directly in line with gains to productivity, because we have a free market and our money was real -- it was backed with gold. Today, there’s no such thing as lower prices – ever. That part of capitalism, the way the market enriches all of us, has been stolen by the government. All of the economy’s gains to productivity are inflated away by the government’s phony money. You believe you’re working for money. But you’re not. You’re holding an illusion.

Interesting fact that most people have forgotten. You couldn’t have paid for a 1973 Ford F-150 by selling some gold. Why not? Because private ownership of gold was illegal until December 31, 1974. On April 5, 1933, Franklin D Roosevelt (the Donald Trump of his era) signed executive order 6102, which banned individuals from owning gold bullion. The government didn’t want any competition for its monetary illusion. Don’t be surprised when the government decides to outlaw Bitcoin or even gold again, too. They will do whatever it takes to hold on to their monetary power. Just watch.

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