Incomes are rising in America, especially for the poorest
But those in the middle, hit by inflation, have less to cheer about
Cardi B, better known for her punchy hip-hop than her economic analysis, recently observed that the price of a lettuce had soared to as much as $7. “If I think that shit is crazy, I can only imagine what middle-class people or people in the hood are mother [bleep] thinking,” she said. Ms B is right. Paying that much for a head of lettuce is indeed crazy. Inadvertently or not, she also opened a window onto a more fraught topic than the price of greens: are incomes in America going up or down?
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “The unstuck middle”
United States January 21st 2023
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- How America’s far right flits from issue to issue
- What the spread of universal basic-income schemes says about America’s safety net
- It is still legal to hit children in school in 19 American states
- George Santos is the congressman America deserves
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