A couple weeks ago I remarked on the steady climb in college tuition. An easy-to-use infographic, How Spending Has Changed, from Dr. Stephen J. Rose (The Atlantic, “The Money Report,” April 2012) adds another perspective by comparing 2007 consumer spending to that of 1947 consumers.
It turns out that certain necessities, like food and clothing, have become much cheaper than before. Not only do these items account for a smaller part of our spending, we spend less on them period. On the other hand, business services, education and health care are all moving in the other direction. We spend more on them than ever before and these items are becoming bigger and bigger pieces of our “spending pie”.
For more information about consumer spending, and the factors that drive it, along with comparisons to 1967 spending, see the magazine article, “How We Spend,” that accompanies the infographic.
