The Richest Poor People in the World

I have been saying for years (to myself mostly, but to my wife sometimes) that America has the richest poor people in the world. Finally, along comes Arnold Kling with some statistics to back up this claim.

Of housesholds with incomes under $15,000 per year, 18% have dishwashers, 57% clothes washers, 45% clothes dryers, 23% a cell phone, 25% a big screen TV, 37% a telephone answering machine, 64% cable or satellite TV, 74% a VCR, and 75% a microwave. Kling goes on to quote economic historian Robert Fogel:

"Indeed, we have become so rich that we are approaching saturation in the consumption not only of necessities, but also of goods recently thought to be luxuries...Virtually everyone who is old enough and well enough to drive a car has one. In the case of television, there are 0.8 sets per person (2.2 per household)...The level of saturation for many consumer durables is so high that even the poorest fifth of households are well endowed with them."

I would only say the 23% cell phone number seems a little low, based on the number I see hanging on belts in the local low income housing projects. And last but not least, this 2002 conference explored how one of the greatest threats inherent in poverty in America is obesity:

For the first time in global history, poor people in post-industrial nationsespecially [sic] in the United States are more likely to be seriously and unhealthily overweight than people from more affluent communities.

That's right. Our poor people are fatter than our rich people.