So much of middle class net worth is tied to the value of real estate, the conversation is really about the trend in home prices, and whether one bought at the peak of the market.

The graph from that article http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2014/10/M... suggests median net worth was doing quite well up until 2007-2008.

The jobless rate is an indicator of difference between demand and supply for employees. With people out of work, of course salaries will shrink.

That will change when the jobless rate returns to normal.

A very poor indicator, given that it doesn't count workers who have given up looking for a job because none were available.

This criticism of unemployment statistics is parroted whenever an unemployment discussion is had. But those discouraged worker numbers are tracked too. They tend to go together, and the recent news about hiring increases is not due to a massive increase in discouraged workers.

Sometimes there really is a net increase in employment.

If they gave up, they aren't really in competition.

Some research suggests that happiness vis a vis personal wealth is determined by how much you have relative to your friends.

In reality this is a problem. When everyone around you is making more, things tend to cost more - e.g. real-estate in silicon valley is atrociously expensive for what you get, so you need a solid dual income or high-earner single income to afford a house - as the aggregate of these go up, your ability to afford a house or an upgrade diminishes.

That's why even the rich get more annoyed when inequality rises. They see those making more than them pulling away. The knee jerk reactions to this tend to make the problem even worse (eg. lower taxes, justified by reducing social security).

That actually makes a lot of sense. I'll have to look at some studies.

If you google my comment[1] you will find it[2-5].

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=research+suggests+that+happi... [2] http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/winter07/happin... [3] http://vanneman.umd.edu/socy699J/GrahamP02.pdf [4] http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic620591.files/Indi... [5] Relative Income Hypothesis. I will leave the googling of this as an exercise for the reader.

Thanks!