Talk:Median household income

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[edit] Table

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (February 2007)

The table should be expanded to show the year each data point was taken (affects comparability) and to include more countries. -- Beland 02:02, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes it should, I added the years where possible. Signature^brendel 02:28, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Somehow the references got deleted along the way. I don't know how to undo changes, but they should be put back. At least for New Zealand, the reference was very accurate. Uayebforever 12:49, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

There may be a better resource for the PPP conversions through the IMF 2007 April data. Inflation differences in the US have really allowed this to change significantly since the 2003 OECD numbers. [1]

If you revisit the OECD page, there are conversions for 2006, although I don't doubt the IMF is even better. Also, how do you edit that table? I was going to put in the 2006 numbers but I couldn't figure it out. --Jmcdon10 20:12, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] PPP

Someone made a criticism of ppp which was deleted. They were claiming that quality of life in France is under represented by the OECD figures because education and health care are state funded. The reason for the deletion is that median household income is based on GROSS income (pre-tax), it doesn't distinquish whether the payment route is public or private. Countries with large public services also have high taxes. Their take-home income is lower, but they are compensated with more social services. Badenoch (talk) 19:40, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, there is some truth to that argument owing to the multiplier effect of government spending. The benefits a person derives from the welfare state may well outweigh the cost they pay in taxes. Yet those statements are irrelevant here, since they can be used for a a general (and valid) criticism of using monetary income as a sole proxy for social welfare, but not the use of PPP in currency conversions. The comments were misplaced and the arugment badly crafted - so deletion was justified IMHO. Regards, Signature^brendel 03:57, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] US-centric

I was hoping to find an article addressing all countries. This article is tied to the US economy. Perhaps it should be split into two articles. US median incomes and International median incomes. Also, hopefully expanded for all countries. 172.167.56.35 (talk) 20:10, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

The U.S. is included here as an example, because data for it so readily available. I did create a seperate article, Household income in the United States about two years ago. Signature^brendel 01:19, 19 April 2008 (UTC)