Three Contemporary Economic Myths About Income and Material Well-Being

Originally published in Journal of Private Enterprise

A major challenge facing economics educators is helping students critically assess the media coverage of economic issues.

A major challenge facing economics educators is helping students critically assess the media coverage of economic issues. The media are often the purveyors of a variety of economic myths that simply do not stack up to the facts. Over the years, I have collected several of these myths and provided empirical data that calls them into question. In this essay, I provide data and economic analyses that undermine three of those myths: Living standards are declining, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and jobs are paying less than they used to.

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