By the Numbers

By David Cay Johnston

This article appeared in the September 21, 2009 edition of The Nation.

September 2, 2009



Rising healthcare costs are killing wage increases. From 1980 to 2007 the average cash income for the vast majority of Americans (the bottom 90 percent) increased only $2,697, to $33,321. Healthcare spending per household rose more than three times as much, increasing $8,797, to $15,369, according to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. Household healthcare spending now equals almost half of the average income of the vast majority of Americans.



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About David Cay Johnston

David Cay Johnston, who received a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the tax beat, is a columnist for Tax Notes and teaches the law of the ancient world at Syracuse University's law and management schools. He is the author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill) and Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everybody Else. more...
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