Liberal SF Chronicle Goes To Hysterical Lengths

To find signs of economic recovery.

When times are tough, people double up their living situations to save money. Boomerang kids return home after college; twentysomethings share with roommates; couples postpone tying the knot or starting a family; foreclosed-upon families move in with relatives. But when the economy is doing well, household formation rises, as people get the income - and the confidence - to commit to renting or buying their own place. 

That's happening now, according to the Census Bureau. Americans formed 1.15 million new households during the 12 months ended in September - a big jump from the annual average of 650,000 new households added during the prior four years. The current rate is still a bit shy of the typical average of 1.25 million household formations a year.

If you want to fall for crap like this, be my guest. But hard data shows that Obama has destroyed 43 years of economic progress.

The median net worth of American households has dropped to a 43-year low as the lower and middle classes appear poorer and less stable than they have been since 1969.

 According to a recent study by New York University economics professor Edward N. Wolff, median net worth is at the decades-low figure of $57,000 (in 2010 dollars). And as the numbers in his study reflect, the situation only appears worse when all the statistics are taken as a whole.

According to Wolff, between 1983 and 2010, the percentage of households with less than $10,000 in assets (using constant 1995 dollars) rose from 29.7 percent to 37.1 percent. The “less than $10,000″ figure includes the numerous households that have no assets at all, or “negative assets,” which is otherwise known as “debt.”