August 31, 2007 9:02 AM

Not Even a Lucky Seven

From Amy Traub at the Drum Major Institute comes some sobering analysis of last year's income stats:

...Consider the income numbers: the median household in 2006 made less than one percent more than in 2005. After inflation, that works out to an extra $6.85 a week (yes that decimal point is in the right place) that the typical American household took home last year. What's more, the Economic Policy Institute points out that households had to work longer hours with more household members in the workforce to realize these decidedly modest income gains.

I like movies. And I like beer. With my extra $6.85 a week, I could either buy a children's or senior price ticket for the movies or I could go to a bar and buy a beer, and have some potato chip money left afterward. But I can't do both. I couldn't even rent a video and buy a beer. That's just one way of understanding how little this income bump is.

What are you spending your $6.85 cents on?