tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274381712003139086.post8531682497876091071..comments2024-03-19T04:19:18.871-05:00Comments on Atheism Analyzed: The Inflation That CountsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274381712003139086.post-84842595586986200312014-02-17T11:28:10.603-06:002014-02-17T11:28:10.603-06:00From Dr. Thomas Sowell:
(Link: http://jewishworld...From Dr. Thomas Sowell:<br /><br />(Link: http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell030613.php3#.UwJFNIXFlD0)<br /><br /><b><i>"Those "social scientists," journalists and others who are committed to the theory that social barriers keep people down often cite statistics showing that the top income brackets receive a disproportionate and growing share of the country's income.<br /><br />"But the very opposite conclusion arises in studies that follow actual flesh-and-blood individuals over time, most of whom move up across the various income brackets with the passing years. Most working Americans who were initially in the bottom 20 percent of income-earners, rise out of that bottom 20 percent. More of them end up in the top 20 percent than remain in the bottom 20 percent.<br /><br />"People who were initially in the bottom 20 percent in income have had the highest rate of increase in their incomes, while those who were initially in the top 20 percent have had the lowest. This is the direct opposite of the pattern found when following income brackets over time, rather than following individual people.<br /><br />"Most of the media publicize what is happening to the statistical brackets — especially that "top one percent" — rather than what is happening to individual people.<br /><br />"We should be concerned with the economic fate of flesh-and-blood human beings, not waxing indignant over the fate of abstract statistical brackets. Unless, of course, we are hustling for an expansion of the welfare state."</i></b><br /><br />I'll shut up now...Robert Coblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12427520849707914818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274381712003139086.post-54526295115190114622014-02-17T10:32:26.183-06:002014-02-17T10:32:26.183-06:00Re: the Addendum:
Bourgeois: the middle class, ty...Re: the Addendum:<br /><br /><b>Bourgeois</b>: the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes.<br /><br /><b>Proletariat</b>: (in Marxist theory) the class of workers, especially industrial wage earners, who do not possess capital or property and must sell their labor to survive.<br /><br />Excerpt:<br /><br />"<b><i>The biggest issue facing the American economy, and our political system, is the gradual descent of the middle class into proletarian status.</i></b>"<br /><br />Could there possibly be a concerted effort on the part of the US government to remove the hated Bourgeoisie by converting them into Proletariats, all in the name of "equality of outcome"?<br /><br />Say it ain't so!!!!! Robert Coblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12427520849707914818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274381712003139086.post-23025591970784101862014-02-17T10:09:47.772-06:002014-02-17T10:09:47.772-06:00"Food prices soar as incomes stand still"..."<b>Food prices soar as incomes stand still</b>"<br /><br />My college statistics course used the following little book:<br /><br /><b>How To Lie With Statistics</b><br />Darrell Huff<br />Copyright 1954<br />W. W. Norton & Company<br />ISBN 978-0-393-31072-6<br /><br />"<b><i>While the government says prices are up 6.4 percent since 2011...</i></b>"<br /><br />Obviously (although explicitly unstated), this is an <b>average</b> (mean) of all prices. It has as much real significance as the statistic that "The average American family has 2.3 kids." (What DO you do with 0.3 kid?!?)<br /><br />Our government at its statistical finest in projections:<br /><br />"<b><i>The U.S. Department<br />of Agriculture (USDA) projects that annual U.S. food price inflation will be in the 2.5% to 3.5% range in 2012 and from 3% to 4% in 2013.</i></b>"<br /><br />Consumers and Food Price Inflation<br />Randy Schnepf<br />Specialist in Agricultural Policy<br />September 13, 2013<br />(http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40545.pdf) <br /><br />Moving on:<br /><br />"<b><i>Median income is up only 1 percent a year.</i></b>"<br /><br />Note the "bait and switch": <b>prices</b> are based on the <b>average</b>, but <b>income</b> is based on the <b>median</b> (a value or quantity lying at the midpoint of a frequency distribution of observed values or quantities, such that there is an equal probability of falling above or below it).<br /><br />Questions immediately come to mind.<br /><br />(1) Why use two different statistical measures for prices and income?<br /><br />(2) Is this partisan shilling for the arbitrary raising of the minimum wage?<br /><br />After viewing the article and the accompanying photos, I'm left wondering at the "struggle" of Ms. Singer as a professional writer to put basic staples on the table. Described as "the mother of two teenage boys," (coupled with no mention of a Mr. Singer), perhaps we can statistically presume that Mr. Singer is no longer part of the household. Perhaps he doesn't contribute toward the family budget. So let's assume that Ms. Singer is single or divorced, valiantly providing for her family herself.<br /><br />The 2012 median income (to compare apples to apples with the article) for writers is $55,940 per year ($26.89 per hour), according to the US Dept. of Labor. (Link: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/writers-and-authors.htm)<br /><br />Observing the kitchen in the photos, with a large space, oak wood cabinets, a built-in microwave, and a smooth surface stove, one gets the general impression that the Singers are not exactly living at the official US poverty level.<br /><br />Note that we can infer NOTHING from the DOL "median" income for writers regarding Ms. Singer's actual income level. However, the amenities displayed in her kitchen would suggest that she is not on the bottom end of the scale.<br /><br />(I'm always puzzled by "news stories" about impoverished people, which has accompanying photos or videos showing various amenities like 45" plasma TVs, stereos, game machines, in short, every electronic gadget known to mankind, and yet the family is the epitome of poverty.)<br /><br />Slogan: "<b><i>Come Home To CBS News.</i></b>" (2013–present) PLEASE! We are falling in the ratings almost as fast as MSNBC!<br /><br />(I'm in a curmudgeonly mood today.)Robert Coblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12427520849707914818noreply@blogger.com