Numbers matter, but so do the things they measure

In an election year, the economy is justly a focus for attention and discussion. Especially at the presidential election level, where the office has relatively little to do with the economy, but everyone credits or blames the president for the economy.

So when a writer for the WaPo purports to explain middle class anxiety, it gets our attention. But the egregious and avoidable reverse engineering of statistics to make your point serves nobody. Matt Yglesias does the honors:

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/25/21151335/oren-cass-cost-of-thriving