Consumers have an out of control spending problem

From 1960 to 2014, the average house size has more than doubled from 1,200 to 2,600 square feet, automobile ownership has gone up from 1 to 1.7 per household and the percentage of household income spent on food has dropped from 17.5 percent to 9.6 percent. In addition, we take longer vacations, retire younger and have a plethora of electronic and other products that didn’t exist in 1960.

The reality is that all segments of society, from the poor to the middle class to the richest 1 percent, are better off today than ever before in this country. It may be that the income gap between the rich and the poor is growing, but this has mostly to do with a growing skills gap and a welfare system that encourages dependency on government programs —programs which, by the way, greatly underestimate the true income received by the poor by not counting the value of many of the subsidies received as income.

If we lived like we did in 1960, minimum wage would more than cover the bills. We consumers do have a problem, but it’s not an income problem. It’s an out of control spending problem. 

Jim Shamp

Cheney