2 Middle-Class Inflation
Never heard of that one? Well, inflation hits different demo-
graphic groups in different ways. Gov- ernment number-crunchers report that inflation has been running at about 2 percent a year since 2009. That’s not bad, until you consider
that inflation is at least twice that high for many of the necessities that work- ing American families have to buy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the price of housing, food, college tuition, and healthcare all have been rising at between 4 and 6 percent.
3 The Inequality Index
Well, at least Obama’s progres- sive policies have helped those
on the lower end of the economic lad- der, right? Think again: The left’s favorite
measure of income inequality, a Cen- sus Bureau measure known as the Gini coefficient, rose in each of Obama’s first four years in office. In fact, it broke all time-highs in 2011 and 2012, and remains near those levels now.
4 Small-Business
According to an analysis by the Kauffman Index of Entre-
preneurial Activity, the rate of busi- ness creation dipped to just 0.28 per- cent of all adults in 2013. That’s the lowest rate in a decade. The American Enterprise Insti-
tute’s Jim Pethokoukis finds a corre- lation between the growth in the fed- eral regulations and the decline in new firms. Start-up jobs, as a percentage of total private-sector employment, have declined from nearly 4 percent in the 1980s, to just over 2 percent during the Obama administration.
5 Broken-Dreams Index
The American dream is imploding before our eyes. A
2014 Pew Research poll found only 34 percent of Americans believe the next
generation will live as well as the cur- rent generation. Many voters say they do not think
the future will be better for their chil- dren — a sharp departure from Ameri- cans’ traditional optimism.
6 Credit Card Crisis
When Barack Obama entered office the national debt was
under $11 trillion. Now, it’s more than $18 trillion — more than $120,000 for each worker. Projections indicate it will be $19 trillion when he leaves office. That means Mr. Obama
has added more debt to the nation than every president from George Washington through Bill Clinton, com- bined. Ask yourself: Who will pay these bills?
den increased from under $10,000 in 1993 to nearly $30,000 in 2012.
9 Family Destruction
A key to a healthy economy and rising incomes is keep-
Projections indicate the national debt will be
$19
TRILLION when Obama leaves ofice.
ing families intact. Children living in homes without a father present are three times more likely to live in pov- erty than kids from intact families. Yet, since 1970, the percentage of children living in single-parent households has skyrocketed from about 12 percent to over 25 percent. The unwed birth rate has remained at
all-time highs of near 40 per- cent. The unwed birth rate is up nearly 10 percentage points since 2000, and for blacks and Hispanics it’s rising even
7 Youthful Misery Index
The percentage of Americans under age 25 in the workforce
has fallen to its lowest level since the early 1970s — and that was before women started entering the workforce in very large numbers. The percentage of Americans from
25 to 29 in the workforce is at the lowest Gini coefficient level since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting the data in 1982. The real unemployment rate in
America is near 10 percent (not below 6 percent) when accounting for the lost workers who have given up.
8 Student Loan Debt
This threatens to disable an entire generation of young
Americans. According to the Institute for College Access & Success, based on U.S. Department of Education data, the number of college students gradu- ating with student loan debt increased from fewer than half in 1993 to more than 70 percent in 2012. And for those graduating with debt, the average bur-
faster, with a 70 percent jump for Afri- can-Americans and a 30 percent rise among Latinos.
10 Govt Dependency
According to the Census Bureau, more than one in
three people live in families receiv- ing federal welfare benefits. Does that sound like a booming economy to you? Of course, that’s not counting non means-tested programs, such as Social Security or unemployment. Add in those programs, and half of all fami- lies get a government check. Total federal and state welfare
spending — adjusted for inflation — is up approximately 60 percent since just the turn of the century, through good and bad economic times. The bottom line: An economic
recovery built on trillions of dollars of debt, overspending, and trillions more in easy money isn’t built to last. “The crisis is over” — that’s exactly
what the politicians said on the eve of the last great recession.
Stephen Moore is the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation.
MARCH 2015 | NEWSMAX 23
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