$280 Billion Found in Economy's Sofa Cushions

There are several "go to" themes that the MSM has been flogging to make the remarkable performance of the economy seem like the opposite. As it relates to unemployment, the MSM theme is that it is so low because discouraged people are opting out of the workforce. The NY Times had a piece yesterday about how it is mostly men between the ages of 30 and 55 who constitute this group (via Cafe Hayek). I think it is excellent that we live in a country where things are so good that middle-aged men can forego work in favor of leisure and sponge off their wives and/or accumulated wealth. At worst this shows some of the dangers inherent in a dynamic economy where the value of skills is constantly in flux, but it hardly speaks to economic weakness.

Another theme is that while personal income is rising, incomes are not keeping pace with inflation, thus the little guy is "falling behind." Well, here's a little tidbit from Brain Wesbury's Data Watch:

"...the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their annual benchmark revisions to Personal Income data for 2003-2005. The net revisions added $71.2 billion to personal income and $29.0 billion to wages and salaries. This follows last year's 2004-2004 revision which added $87.7 billion to personal income and $91.8 billion to wages and salaries."

Whoops, we missed $280 billion! Wesbury concludes that wages are rising faster than consumption and inflation, so people are accumulating puchasing power and wealth. They would have to be for so many men to hang out the "Gone Fishin' " sign.