CoyoteBlog: Not The Best of Times Because, Why?

Kevin Drum posts this chart as a one-picture refutation of McCain's statement that we are living in the best of times.



Um, OK. We all got wealthier. And the problem is, what? That someone else got even wealthier than I did? So what. Do we really have to keep refuting this zero-sum economics-of-envy argument?

I won't get into the whole zero-sum thing, because the chart itself proves that the world can't be zero-sum, since everyone got richer on average. But here is a full refutation of zero-sum wealth arguments. Also, a zero-sum wealth quiz here.

Looking at changes in income brackets is always misleading. In the US, most folks are migrating up the brackets as they age and gain experience. So most folks benefit not just from the increase in their bracket but a migration to the next bracket...