but matt, the lefties econ god (very small "g") has them believing the jobs are all burger flippers & bag boyz at the grocery.

well, 'cept 4 the illegals picking lettuce...and the chronicly unemployed who won't.

Xcuse me fir being inquistive but what was the rate of inflation?

I know 3.8% sounds good but if the inflation rate was high too, don't that mean the real value of teh wages stayed the same or worse?

Xcuse me fir being inquistive but what was the rate of inflation?

I know 3.8% sounds good but if the inflation rate was high too, don't that mean the real value of teh wages stayed the same or worse?

Xcuse me fir being inquistive but what was the rate of inflation?

I know 3.8% sounds good but if the inflation rate was high too, don't that mean the real value of teh wages stayed the same or worse?

Wang,
No it doesn't, wages outpaced inflation by more than 1% since 2000.

Wanger, I know you're trying to sound ignorant and smart at the same time, but you actually raise a legitimate point. There have been several comments on several threads over the last few days suggesting that inflation is, to use Georgia Frawg's words, "running rampant". You know, it's not that difficult to check. BLS has a chart that goes from 1913 through April, 2006 with a baseline of 100% in 1982/84. Going from April to April of each year, the chart shows the following inflation figures for Bush's first 5 years:

2001-2002 (1.64%)
2002-2003 (2.22%)
2003-2004 (2.29%)
2004-2005 (3.51%)
2005-2006 (3.55%)

Average annual inflation since the baseline has been 3.15%, so Bush's first 3 years were substantially below the average, while the last 2 years have been slightly above the average. To put it in perspective, average annual inflation during Jimmy Carter's 4 years was 7.4%, and average inflation during Clinton's 8 years was 2.1% while the annual rate during Bush's first 5 years has averaged 2.5%. Considering what has happened to the price of oil and the number of products that are made from petroleum derivatives, I think an average inflation rate of 2.5% over the last five years is nothing short of remarkable.

so yer sayin that this year teh real wages are up only by .25%, after inflation?

That don't sound too good.

I followed your fancy link and saw that Bush has much Higher inflation rates then ever Clinton did.

Spook, ignore Wang-licker; he has a thing with minnowhead where they come here, show their asses, then go over to each other's blogs where they play kissy-huggy and boast about how they "kicked ass over at B4B."

Ain't that right, DAV?

Yeah, keefer, I know DAV and "Big Dick" are one and the same, but, unwittingly (since he's a halfwit, I guess that fits) he did make a valid point.

And DAV, I figured the chart was probably too complex for you to understand, that's why I spelled out the actual numbers for both Slick and Bush. You can say that 2.5 is "much higher" than 2.1, but anyone with half a brain (oops, sorry) knows better. It also might interest you to see what happened to real wages during Bush 41's 4 years and der Schleickmeister's first 6 years:

(From the above July 17, 1998 article)

By many important indicators, the American economy is soaring. Unemployment in early 1998 fell to its lowest point in 30 years, real wages for most workers are finally on the rise, and even productivity - a broad measure of the efficiency of the labor force - is speeding up. Yet even with these recent gains, the pay of the typical worker in mid-1998 is still not as high as it was in 1989, the year of the last business cycle peak. Moreover, these recent wage gains, dependent upon current tight labor markets, low inflation, and one-time increases in the minimum wage, are unlikely to withstand the inevitable shift in the business cycle. (emphasis - mine)

Dav or Wang, whatever,
You obviously didn't finish 7th grade Algebra; you can't compare percentages from divergent comparatives. 3.15% of one number doesn’t compare to 3.35% of another.
Latest inflation numbers are lower than anticapted, and wages are continuing to rise, this was discussed on another thread.