At 7:40 p.m. tonight (in just 50 minutes as I’m blogging this), the U.S. population will reach the 300 million mark. Blogstress Fausta links to this Forbes article about how much better off average Americans are than when the population hit the 200 million mark in 1967:
“Mr. and Mrs. Median’s $46,326 in annual income is 32% more than their mid-’60s counterparts, even when adjusted for inflation, and 13% more than those at the median in the economic boom year of 1985. And thanks to ballooning real estate values, median household net worth has increased even faster. The typical American household has a net worth of $465,970, up 83% from 1965, 60% from 1985 and 35% from 1995.
“Throw in the low inflation of the past 20 years, a deregulated airline industry that’s made travel much cheaper, plus technological progress that’s provided the middle class with not only better cars and televisions, but every gadget from DVD players to iPods, all at lower and lower prices, and it’s obvious that Mr. and Mrs. Median are living the life of Riley compared to their parents and grandparents.”
So there, Malthusians!