True, real median household income (RMINC) has been rising since 2014.
In fact, real median household income looks far better from 2014 to 2017 than it did from 2007 to 2012 (orange line). Yes, that declining RMINC line looks pretty bad if you are trying to convince voters that the economy is doing well.
So, in 2013, President Obama and the US Census Bureau decided to change the way RMINC was measured.
Starting in 2013 with a partial phase-in, which was fully implemented in 2014, Census changed the questions and the methods in calculating household income.
For example, Census, starting in 2014, began to “collect the value of assets that generate income if the respondent is unsure of the income generated.”
Also, the government started to use “income ranges” as a follow-up for “don’t know” or “refused” answers on income-amount questions.
Okay, so guess the assets that you have that are generating income. The fact that the US has experienced massive growth in stock and housing prices thanks, in part, to The Fed’s highly accommodating monetary policies, particularly since wage growth has been so stagnant since 2009.
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