The Grey Lady leads today with a great story on how wages are not keeping up with inflation or productivity growth. The whole thing is worth a read, but I thought this section drew an important distinction between average and median income: Average family income, adjusted for inflation, has continued to advance at a good clip, a fact Mr. Bush has cited when speaking about the economy. But these gains are a result mainly of increases at the top of the income spectrum that pull up the overall numbers. Even for workers at the 90th percentile of earners — making about $80,000 a year — inflation has outpaced their pay increases over the last three years, according to the Labor Department. “There are two economies out there,” Mr. Cook, the political analyst, said. “One has been just white hot, going great guns. Those are the people who have benefited from globalization, technology, greater productivity and higher corporate earnings. “And then there’s the working stiffs,’’ he added, “who just don’t feel like they’re getting ahead despite the fact that they’re working very hard. And there are a lot more people in that group than the other group.” UPDATE: The inequality debate can get confusing. Here's a post from Prof. Brad Delong's blog that digs deeper into the concepts the New York Times article is talking about, and gives more reasons for why inequality is getting out of control.