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LIMEW Reports

LIMEW Reports | November 2009
Has Progress Been Made in Alleviating Racial Economic Inequality? Reports of a postracial society may be premature. Studies continue to show wide racial gaps in income and, especially, wealth; although there is some evidence that income gaps have shrunk over the past half century, wealth inequality is large and persistent. [more]
LIMEW Report, November 2009

LIMEW Reports | April 2009
New Estimates of Economic Inequality in America, 1959—2004 In this latest LIMEW report, the authors present new evidence on the pattern of economic inequality in the United States that indicates higher inequality in 2004 than in 1959. According to the LIMEW, there was a surge in inequality between 1989 and 2000 that reflects the large increase in income from wealth for the top rungs of the economic ladder; the principal factor behind the official measures was base income (consisting mainly of labor income). [more]
LIMEW Report, April 2009

LIMEW Reports | February 2009
What Are the Long-Term Trends in Intergroup Economic Disparities? Over the last half century, government policy has had an important hand in alleviating disparities among population subgroups in the United States; for example, special tax treatment for families with children has meant an improvement in the well-being of single mothers, and Medicare and Social Security have been the driving force in improving well-being among the elderly. Thus, the measure of economic well-being used is critical in assessing changes in disparities between groups. [more]
LIMEW Report, February 2009

LIMEW Reports | February 2009
Postwar Trends in Economic Well-Being in the United States,1959–2004 The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) is a more comprehensive measure than either gross money income or extended income because it includes estimates of public consumption and household production, as well as the long-run benefits from the ownership of wealth. As a result, it provides a picture of economic well-being in the United States that is very different from the official measures. [more]
LIMEW Report, February 2009

LIMEW Reports | April 2007
How Well Off Are America’s Elderly? Given the aging of the American population and the widening gap between rich and poor—not to mention the controversy surrounding the future viability of Social Security—the economic welfare of the elderly is an extremely topical issue. This report provides a new look at America’s elderly, and shows that the official measures drastically understate their level of economic well-being. [more]
LIMEW Report, April 2007

LIMEW Reports | December 2006
Wealth and Economic Inequality This report argues that wealth is an integral aspect of economic well-being. The authors combine income and net worth to demonstrate the importance of wealth inequalities in shaping overall economic inequality and defining the disparities among population subgroups. [more]
LIMEW Report, December 2006

LIMEW Reports | May 2005
Interim Report This interim report compares the LIMEW and official measures of economic well-being for 1989–2002, a period marked by the economic boom of the late 1990s and a mild recession in 2001–02. All measures show that the well-being of the average American household was significantly higher in 2000 than in 1989, with most of the improvement occurring in the latter half of the 1990s. [more]
LIMEW Report, May 2005

LIMEW Reports | March 2005
Economic Well-Being in U.S. Regions and the Red and Blue States This report analyzes regional aspects of economic well-being according to four regions identified by the United States Census Bureau: the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Using the official measures and the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW), the authors examine how the average American household fared from 1989 to 2001 and discuss disparities in well-being among population subgroups and across regions. [more]
LIMEW Report, March 2005

LIMEW Reports | December 2004
How Much Does Public Consumption Matter for Well-Being? This report supplements previous findings of the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) research project within our program on the distribution of income and wealth. Some readers have questioned the sensitivity of our estimates in view of our imputation techniques. [more]
LIMEW Report, December 2004

LIMEW Reports | September 2004
How Much Does Wealth Matter for Well-Being? Economic well-being refers to the command or access by members of a household over the goods and services produced in a modern market economy during a given period of time.The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) is a comprehensive measure that is constructed as the sum of the following components: base money income (gross money income minus property income and government cash transfers), employer contributions for health insurance, income from wealth, net government expenditures (transfers and public consumption, net of taxes), and the value of household production. [more]
LIMEW Report, September 2004

LIMEW Reports | May 2004
Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being This report presents the latest findings of the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) research project within our program on the distribution of income and wealth. It enhances previous findings about economic well-being and inequality in the United States by extending our analysis to include additional years, 1995 and 2001, and by comparing our results with the Census Bureau's most comprehensive measure of a household's command over commodities, which we refer to as extended income (EI). [more]
LIMEW Report, May 2004

LIMEW Reports | February 2004
Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being The Levy Economics Institute has, since its inception, maintained an active research program on the distribution of earnings, income, and wealth. [more]
LIMEW Report, February 2004

LIMEW Reports | December 2003
Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being The Levy Economics Institute has, since its inception, maintained an active research program on the distribution of earnings, income, and wealth. [more]
LIMEW Report, December 2003