Pelosi, the economy and the missing $5000

The FT this morning highlights Nanci Pelosi banging the economy drum.

Speaking at Georgetown University in Washington, the Democratic leader, who represents San Francisco on Capitol Hill, said most Americans had suffered income stagnation in the past five years. But she avoided giving a clear diagnosis of why that had happened.

“There are those who will say that our economy is successful for everyone because corporate profits are the highest share of GDP in 50 years,” said Ms Pelosi. “But the incomes of middle class families have declined for five straight years . . .  People are working more productively than ever but their purchasing power is down. The cost of everything – from housing to healthcare to energy – is tightening the middle-class squeeze.”

Although it has been criticised for lacking in depth, the Democrat party’s economic platform appears to be tapping into widespread economic anxiety among voters that is expected to help the opposition party at the polls in November.

All of this is to the good. As we pointed out in last week's memo on the economy, it isn't just the median family has lost roughly $1250 in income under the President. It s that if trend rate of income growth under Bush had matched four comparable years under Clinton, the median family would be more than $5000 better off.