Trump’s numbers didn’t leave me “giddy.”
“Giddiness” is a non-objective word, a non-empirical word that fills a lot of important holes that big national averages (GDP, PPP) and general statistics hide.
One, esp., is the level of wages. From the 2009 Q4 to 2018 Q1, weekly wages for hourly and salary workers only increased from $218.82 to $252.52–$33.70 a week, totalled for the last 8 1/2 years (and includes the new tax cut!). Workers’ pay has risen slowly, with lower income wages raising even slower, making the recovery incomplete for many families.
Second, the black income gap (70%) and black employment gap (double the national rate) maintained its constant 40 year separation. The lost wages and productivity, the cost of racism.
These structural numbers, wages, the cost of racism; inert, long term, do not leave me “giddity.”
“Giddiness” is a non-objective word, a non-empirical word that fills a lot of important holes that other than general statistics reveal: one, esp., the level of wages. From the 2009 Q4 to 2018 Q1, weekly wages for hourly and salary workers only increased $218.82 to $252.52 (includes the new tax cut!). Workers’ pay has risen slowly, with lower income wages raising even slower, making the recovery incomplete for many families. Second, the black income (70%) and employment gap (double the national rate) maintained its constant 40 year gap. The lost wages and productivity the cost of racism. These structural numbers, inert, long term, do not leave me “giddity.”
Black History 360* 