Half the Story: the other Stats

I'm biased.

It is true, so I want you to know. I have a predetermined bias when it comes to thinking, writing, teaching and lecturing about most topics.

I believe that the United States is a favored nation, blessed by Almighty God and home to the very best economic engine and political system in the world. I am also convinced that it is Biblical and prudent to be supportive and prayerful of our President, our elected representatives and even our courts.

Now that you know where I'm coming from, let me get into what I consider to be the "other statistics".

We get a daily dose of economic hardship news, the latest disappointing financial trends regarding supposedly growing unemployment, the burden of fair trade agreements which have exported all the jobs, etc., etc. As a result, we have become a nation informed but at the same time grossly uninformed. We are uninformed because we only get half-the-stats.

I'll bet that you believe that we've lost all of our good jobs to foreign countries. It's understandable that you would think that based on the information that is typically delivered to us from supposedly "unbiased" sources. The problem is that the source of the information, is always biased.

Their bias influences their view of the world. I told you before I know I'm biased. Here's another one of my biases: as a believer, I have what is often called a "Christian World View". My viewpoint isn't any more balanced, it's just sometimes the other viewpoint.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not equating my economic perspective to some correct Biblical understanding. You may have a Christian Worldview and think differently than I do about this nation, our political system and the relative health of our economy. I do hope you would read on however.

The following is just some of the "good news". You already know what the bad news is supposedly. I'll try to not repeat what you already hear on a daily basis.

So, there is good news. The chart on the right is employment trends in Pennsylvania. Looks pretty good doesn't it? We'll talk about that in a minute. Let's start off first talking about homes. Did you know that presently, over half of our minority families own their own home? That's pretty good don't you think? A record by the way. Overall home ownership is also at a near record of about 70%.

You wouldn't think that home ownership would be so high when there has been much discussion of the outsourcing of all of the good jobs. Well, here is the other stats on outsourcing. Outsourcing is not as bad as you think and in fact, we are growing more jobs at a faster rate than we can export the jobs to other countries. I checked the US Department of Labor (you can check this out if you like) and found that in my home state of Pennsylvania, total non-farm employment has increased in the last ten years (about the same time that we had NAFTA) by 467,000 jobs or about 8.9%.

8.9% sounds like a good number but when you compare it to the increase in total population in PA, it's even a better number. You see, the total number of people in PA grew by about 356,000 people in the same time period or only 2.9%. It means that we actually added more jobs than the total growth of new State residents.

I know what you may be thinking, "hey, what good is a job if it doesn't pay very well? Maybe all these people are just working at McDonald's". You are entitled to that thought after all, all the good jobs are now oversees correct? We'll, I've had good jobs and I've had bad jobs. I guess one way we can determine a good job from a bad job is how much it pays. So, let's take a look at the stats on median income.

The US Census department is a good place to get some information. The chart here on the right is US Median Family income from the 1990 and 2000 Census. As you can see, the median family income increased during this period 41% Not bad when you consider that more money means typically a better lifestyle. Oh yes, probably better jobs as well.

Going back to my home state of Pennsylvania, I looked up the stats from the US Census department on median income in the Keystone Commonwealth. The information said that median income increased from 1984 (the oldest year I found) to 2003 (the most recent year I found) form $20,346 to $42,933. More than a 50% increase in PA but a slightly longer time period. OK, let's look a little closer. I know what some skeptics may think. Hey, Professor, that is just the raw numbers but when you consider inflation, well, that's another story.

Yes, inflation is a factor. I spent some time in Latin America where inflation often runs 25% or more annually, much higher than we have ever had in the US. OK, let's look at the same numbers again for the State of Pennsyvania. The US Census department did the inflation adjusted comparison, using 2003 dollars and found that median family income in PA from 1983 to 2003 rose from $34,281 to over $42,000, an increase of 29% which means people have more money today than before on an inflation adjusted basis.

So, I told you I'm biased. I went looking for the numbers that I thought I would find but have reported them accurately. You also now know the other stats. Regardless of what we have heard about the poor economic conditions, we know that US home ownership is at an all time high. We know that more poeple are working than ever before; we know that the growth of jobs in PA (typically, not considered one of the better performing States) was actually higher than the total population growth. And finally, real family income also has improved by about 29% in the past 20 years.

Don't you think that the whole story is better than just half the story?