Working-class Americans are still hurting despite living through what President Trump calls 'the greatest economy in the history of the U.S.'
As good as it gets? Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump says Americans are currently living through “the greatest economy in the history of the U.S.” And while anyone familiar with mid-century growth rates will find the president’s assessment a bit hyperbolic, we’re still plausibly enjoying “the greatest economy in the history of the decade.”
A few short years ago, America’s subprime lenders had fallen on hard times. With state and federal regulators capping interest rates on payday loans and low-income workers finally seeing a bit of wage growth, the high-interest, short-term loan business went into decline. But when predatory finance gets disrupted, the predatory financiers get #disrupting.
This new online-installment model enabled lenders to increase the supply of high-interest subprime credit. But it was the U.S. economy’s shortcomings that supplied the demand: Between 2008 and 2018, the average household income for Americans with only a high-school education rose 15 percent; over that same period, overall consumer prices rose by 20 percent, housing prices by 206 percent, health care by 33 percent, and average college costs by 45 percent.
Progressives often describe subprime lending in moralistic terms, and not without reason: Many of the industry’s practices are profoundly abusive. That said, here is some truth to the claim that subprime lenders are meeting a genuine consumer need. And some subprime borrowers surely benefit from securing expensive credit in a time of crisis. But in the wealthiest country in human history, none should have to.
Gallup’s headline finding is that, as measured by its index, only 40 percent of Americans currently have “good” jobs. But a more telling finding from its survey may be this: While 59 percent of U.S. workers say their wages have increased over the past five years, no more than 37 percent say any other key marker of job quality has improved over that period. In fact, roughly as many workers say their job’s noncash benefits have gotten worse in recent years as say they’ve gotten better .
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