The average man

He looked as though he were nine years old but was really eight and given out for seven. It was hard to tell whether to believe this or not. Probably everybody knew better and still believed it, as happens about so many things. The average man thinks that a little falseness goes with beauty. Where should we get any excitement out of our daily life if we were not willing to pretend a bit? And the average man is quite right, in his average brains!

Thomas Mann, “The Infant Prodigy”

Scott has posted a couple of times recently regarding David Brooks’ interesting theory that the explosion of wealth in America over the past few decades is a product of the moral uprightness of the American people. But is the average American really getting richer? (All figures are in 2012 dollars)

10th percentile of household income

1972: $11,206

2012: $11,490

30th percentile of household income

1972: $28,944

2012: $29,696

50th percentile of household income

1972: $47,237

2012: $51,179

Real GDP per capita (in 2009 dollars)

1972: $24,432

2012: $49,226

So average Americans are slightly more than twice as rich as they were 40 years ago, yet on average their household income remains almost exactly the same. It is a mathematical and economic puzzle, that probably has something to do with disorganized postmodernism.