How Those New iPhones Keep Us Broke
We keep avoiding the linkage between income inequality, poverty and the rising cost of stuff
Publisher’s Riff
Apple, the makers of iPhone, have determined that everyone wants a new iPhone. Hence, upgrades of new iPhones - or the drop of the latest models - happens as frequently as Fast & Furious movie sequels. The assumption with each rollout is that there is no limit to the number of consumers who have anywhere from $1,000 - $1,200 in extra coin to put on a new iPhone.
What’s interesting is that this wave of new sold-as-exciting, but bland iPhone models happens at a time new poverty and income data from the 2020 Census is revealed. It’s coincidental, but it doesn’t seem like an accident. First, an aggressive menu of social safety nets did help limit some economic bleeding by, at least, reducing even higher levels of poverty that could’ve happened during pandemic. This is according to the latest analysis of Census data from the Economic Policy Institute …
EPI researchers note …
Remarkably, poverty rates were significantly lower last year than they were in 2019, after accounting for the scale of public assistance provided in 2020.
The poverty rate reduction highlights how much poverty the nation and its policymakers tolerate is a choice. It should not have taken a pandemic to make us realize this.
Still, looking deeper into Census data, poverty and income gap rates increased in 2020, even as earnings ticked up by 5.6 percent for men and 6.5 percent for women. Here’s more from EPI …
Meanwhile, what did rise were housing costs and rents, by 13.2 percent and 5.4 percent as of end of Spring 2021, respectively, with more increases expected in 2022 …
The Consumer Price Index, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also keeps inching upward, about 5.3 percent up over the past year with very sticker-shock spikes in energy and commodities like car, especially used cars. No items is falling in price …
Social safety nets might have helped ease the pain somewhat and keep people from further falling into poverty. But, that doesn’t change the fact that so many people are still in poverty - especially children. What appears to happen is that even as earnings increase, the rising cost of things - the CPI - doesn’t give households enough time to recover and adjust. Just as earnings go up, a new iPhone comes out, housing prices go up, landlords are allowing bidding wars on rent and the price of a car makes it out of reach (but, in the context of climate crisis, maybe the latter point is not such a bad thing). The cost of things is driving inequality just as much as other factors. How much do we really need to keep buying?