Numbers Don't Lie: Two Seemingly Contradictory Statements
Consider two seemingly contradictory statements:"In recession, white families lose more wealth than black or Hispanic."Ironically, they're both true.
"In recession, white families retain more wealth than black or Hispanic."
Between 2005 and 2009, the median net worth of black families fell to $5,677 from $12,124, and that of Hispanic families fell to $6,325 from $18,359. In the same period, the median net worth of white households dropped to $113,149 from $134,992.Doing the math, black families lost $6,447 (53%), Hispanic families lost $12034 (66%), white families lost $21,843 (16%). In raw dollars, white families lost the most. As a percentage, they lost the least.
Numbers don't lie but people lie using numbers. Just a reminder to look at the numbers people use to support their statements.
Labels: math, numbers, recession
posted by Lachlan @ 7:13 PM
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