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October 12, 2007
Intangible feelings based on tangible facts
Behind every "intangible", such as a company's reputation, there usually are strong reasons -- which are evident with probing and the correct measurement. Case in point - from a slightly different example -- has been the persistent feeling in the American citizenry that the economy is not personally as good as many of the current statistics makes it out to be. That "intangible" feeling has been dismissed by some as simply something whipped up by the media and politicians.
Well, a new set of statistics shed a different light on the issue - according to a new study by the IRS, as reported in the New York Times:
New data shows that after adjusting for inflation, 95 percent of Americans reported smaller incomes to the tax man in 2005 than in 2000.
. . .
Analysis of the new income tax data, known as Table 5, also shows that while incomes rose markedly in 2005 from 2004, with all taxpayers’ average income up nearly 4 percent in real terms, average pretax income declined slightly for 75 percent of Americans.
Maybe that feeling that the average American has been getting about the economy is correct -- based on their own on-the-ground-tracking of the monthly paycheck and bills.
So, we you get that "intangible feeling," look into what forms of data you can find about it. Your feeling about the situation may be more based in fact that some of the preliminary "facts."
Posted by Ken Jarboe at October 12, 2007 10:23 AM
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