To everyone who thinks the standard of living of the middle class has stagnated since 1979, please read this and the links there. [Addendum: also be sure to read this post by David Henderson.]
But let me add some thoughts of my own.
- In 1979, I had a rotary-dial phone. There were no cellphones, and push-button tone phones were very expensive.
- I had one 14" colour tv with a bizarre channel-changer.
- I had lots of worn and not-so-worn LPs and had just acquired a cassette recorder-player for music.
- The only video recorders I knew of had prices in the thousands of dollars. I didn't have one.
- If there was an internet, I didn't know about it. I didn't start using email or internet newsgroups until later in the 1980s. I certainly didn't have access to "the web".
- I couldn't buy a loaf of bread and have it last for weeks back then (I know this scares some folks, but I see it as a plus).
- A basic fridge had a price tag only slightly lower than a super-duper one today.
- Air conditioners were priced about the same as today --- but back then I was making only about a quarter of what we were paying new hires when I retired four years ago.
- Some of the cheapest digital watches were about $30 or more. I can buy a better one today for much less than that.
- Microwave ovens! I spent over $700 on a huge clunky one with no turntable. A better one today would be priced at well under $100.
- Eyeglasses for under $10? nobody thought that possible then.
- Fresh fruit and vegetables not just "in season" but all year 'round! What a wonder now!
- And air travel to anywhere is priced about the same now as it was then.
- Not to mention all the great voice and text plans that are so inexpensive. Back then we probably paid over $200/month for just our landline (including long-distance calls). Hunh! the same thing is SO much less expensive now.
- And clothing!!! Clothing is amazingly inexpensive now. It's so inexpensive that there are extremely good products at very low prices even in the charity shops as people cast off very good clothing.
- I used catalogues to do a lot of my shopping. I was limited to the catalogues from two or three different stores. Compare that with shopping on the web today!
And these are but a few examples.
When I realize that many people on welfare today have a higher standard of living than members of the middle class had in 1979, I find it really hard to believe that people think the middle class isn't better off today.