While we are not sure our paltry academic salary even qualifies us
\n as "Middle Class", and we are certainly not miserable these days of tennis
\n and beach combing on the pristine Pacific coast of Ecuador, we strongly
\n sympathize with the agonizing erosion of both the standard of living
\n and quality of life experienced by most Americans with less than a million
\n dollars of net worth.<\/p>\n
However, we are less than impressed by the John Kerry campaigns latest Perhaps the campaign team would be wiser to stick to press releases The following graph is a case in point. It sure looks like it shows \n The Middle-class While we are not sure our paltry academic salary even qualifies us as "Middle Class", and we are certainly not miserable these days of tennis and beach combing on the pristine Pacific coast of Ecuador, we strongly sympathize with the … Continue reading
\n effort to spin, package and sell this bottom line by couching it in the
\n format of a statistically valid, social scientific think-tank type report,
\n ingeniously titled the "Middle-Class
\n Misery Index<\/a>". Quite
\n frankly we feel most sociology majors from decent universities could
\n have done a better job at dressing up dubious data like this. The report is rife with dubious statistics,
\n slanted interpretations, misleading graphics and one-sided analysis.<\/p>\n
\n and sound bytes, and leave the statistical pontificating to al least
\n marginally independent academic researchers. How hard would that be,
\n considering that almost all of the academics we know are already firmly
\n within the Kerry camp.<\/p>\n
\n that the "Misery Index" is actually going DOWN. Most people who lack
\n the interpretive skill or time to decipher what it actually shows will
\n come away with the exact OPPOSITE of the intended message!<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/miserygraph.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Misery Index<\/a> is based on median family income, college
\n tuition, health costs, gasoline cost, bankruptcies, the homeownership
\n rate, and private-sector job growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"