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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (227010)	3/29/2005 7:56:36 PM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575771

Poverty: 2003 Highlights -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The data presented here are from the Current Population Survey (CPS), 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), the source of official poverty estimates. The CPS ASEC is a sample survey of approximately 100,000 household nationwide. These data reflect conditions in calendar year 2003. HIGHLIGHTS The official poverty rate in 2003 was 12.5 percent, up from 12.1 percent in 2002. In 2003, 35.9 million people were in poverty, up 1.3 million from 2002. Poverty rates remained unchanged for Hispanics, non-Hispanic Whites, and Blacks, although it rose for Whites and Asians./1 For children under 18 years old, both the poverty rate and the number in poverty rose between 2002 and 2003, from 16.7 percent to 17.6 percent, and from 12.1 million to 12.9 million, respectively. The poverty rate of children under 18 remained higher than that of 18-to-64 years olds and that of seniors aged 65 and over (10.8 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively, both unchanged from 2002). The poverty rate in 2003 (12.5 percent) is 9.9 percentage points lower than in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available. From the most recent trough in 2000, both the number and rate have risen for three consecutive years, from 31.6 million and 11.3 percent in 2000, to 35.9 million and 12.5 percent in 2003.

To: TimF who wrote (227010)	3/30/2005 3:17:23 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575771

Europe vs. America Germany edges out Arkansas in per capita GDP. What a joke! They use the years 2000 and 1999 for comparison, after an unprecedented decade of economic expansion for the US while Europe was going through a painful transformation into the EU. Any fool who had been to Germany knows that on average their standard of living is far superior to Arkansas. I don't know why you like to believe in such tripe. ted

To: TimF who wrote (227010)	3/30/2005 3:22:13 AM
From: Elroy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575771

But a rising tide still lifts all boats, and U.S. GDP per capita was a whopping 32% higher than the EU average in 2000, and the gap hasn't closed since. Interesting - does this mean that Europe significantly deteriorated in the past five years? Shouldn't the appreciation of the euro since 2000 (it's got to have appreciated at least 32% vs. the dollar) by itself have closed the GDP per capita gap, all else being equal? Higher GDP per capita allows the average American to spend about $9,700 more on consumption every year than the average European. Yeah, but that $9,700 cost ~EU10,700 euros five years ago, but only costs ~EU6,700 euros today. Something in that article is fishy, because the fluctuation in exchange rate alone should make Europe look a lot better today than it did 5 years ago.