The rich get richer and the stats get more unreliable

Barry summarizes a good piece in the NYT about why the economy looks so good, according to government stats, and feels so awful, according to thos of us living in it. It makes a simple and convincing case; the kicker is:

In addition, aggregates generally are averages, which are of declining utility in an economy characterized by greater inequality of income and assets.

So that's why the indicators are off--they were devised for the more equitable income distribution we used to have in this country, but don't anymore.