Wealth is Comparative

For John, BLUF:  In these United States the poor people live well below the level of the rich, but, a new study suggests that American poor are better off that the average person in other nations.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Study finds America's poorest 20% consume more than national averages of most European and OECD nations

From The American Thinker, by Mr Thomas Lifson, 26 August 2019.

Here is the lede plus one:

Most of the articles you read decrying the purportedly wretched state of the poor in the United States, blaming prosperous people for the "inequality" of our "income distribution" (as if rich people got that way by expropriating the earnings of the poor, because someone "redistributed" their income to the rich) are phony.  They rely on income reported to the IRS and ignore the substantial untaxed benefits supplied to low-income people.

A new study from the public policy research group Just Facts corrects for this ignored income and finds that our poorest 20% consume as much as the average in many European and other developed countries.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff