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Middle- and low-income Americans are materially worse off over at least the last two decades than government headline statistics would have us believe.

The methods for measuring who is “working” or “not working” are based on a time in the 1930s when people either had a factory, technical or educational job, or didn't at all. “Today, it's a much more complex environment,” Gene Ludwig says.

Do we really understand what’s happening in the economic lives of regular Americans? Gene Ludwig, founder of the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, discusses how and why we should pay attention to different economic indicators.

Prevailing economic analysis remains more problematic than the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Several of the government-produced indicators that make monthly headlines purportedly speak to one small aspect of present reality, but none describe our circumstances as a whole.

Several key government-reported headline statistics present a distorted view of reality for most Americans, with the impact extending far beyond Wall Street. And it can have dire consequences — particularly when those numbers drive economic policy. Look no further than the Federal Reserve's recent decision to hike interest rates.

Why Washington needs to wake up to the crisis that’s looming in the nonbank financial sector.

Former Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig is urging federal regulators to use their authority under the Community Reinvestment Act to give banks more tools to extend credit to low- and moderate-income individuals during economic downturns.

The latest numbers for low- and middle-income families held some good news regarding living-wage job growth, as well as median weekly earnings. But the double punch of inflation, combined with interest rate increases by the Fed, will most likely portend a concerning economic landscape for LMI families in the months ahead.

Former Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig believes the combination of high inflation and rising interest rates present unique risks to the banking industry. Ludwig expects that higher interest rates will lead to more expensive borrowing for many businesses while also increasing their operating costs.

“For the average, middle-to-low income Americans, life is getting more difficult,” said Gene Ludwig, founder of the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, an economic research group. In recent months, “it’s been getting worse significantly above expectations.”

Wednesday’s consumer-price index report showed a 9.1% year-over-year jump. Following similar news last month, the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by 0.75 percentage point. This spells double trouble for middle- and low-income Americans: increased expenses for the former and job losses from the latter.

How do we know the real effect of inflation on the buying power of individuals in the United States? Unless we change the way we analyze data and evaluate key economic indicators, we will not have an accurate picture of the health of our economy, according to Eugene Ludwig, a leader in finance and former comptroller of the currency.

Mark Twain is often quoted to have said: “There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.” I would never dare to argue with the great bard, Mr. Twain. However, I would refine his view of statistics to say that so often it is not the numbers or the number collection that brings out such justifiable ire, but rather what the statistic is being used for and how it is defined.

America’s employers extended a hiring streak in May, adding 390,000 jobs amid skyrocketing inflation and mounting fears of a potential economic backslide.

New data released this morning by the Ludwig Institute, shared exclusively with Morning Money, show large labor market discrepancies among metro areas across the country, each grappling with their own challenges related to the pandemic, or in some cases economic upheaval from decades earlier.

Perhaps “fake” is too strong a term to describe the data-driven consumer price index (CPI), which serves as the U.S. government’s proxy for inflation. But the narrative the CPI has long burnished — namely that, since 2000, ordinary expenses have been fairly manageable amid rising wages — is entirely debunked by new research.

The focus should be on those who the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity described in a recent Time Magazine article. These folks need and should get help.

Gene Ludwig, founder of consulting firm Promontory Financial, went even further, saying, “most leaders in America don’t understand how bad things are for the poor and middle class .... If we don’t make changes we are headed for civil unrest.”

Economic dynamism and opportunity have enabled the United States to build the most innovative, resilient, and prosperous economy in the world. As we continue to confront pandemic-era economic challenges, our nation has an imperative to drive a widespread recovery that lifts individuals and communities across the country.

Each time the economy falters, a disproportionate number of Minority Depository Institutions find themselves in trouble through no fault of their own.

It was a good news, bad news situation at the end of the first quarter of 2022, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued its Q1 wage data.

Eugene Ludwig, the former comptroller of the currency in the Clinton Administration, says the CPI distorts the real economic picture for lower- and middle-­income Americans because it counts the costs of discretionary items such as yachts, second homes, and hotel rooms. By his calculations, the cost of household minimal needs rose 64% from 2001 to 2020, 1.4 times inflation.

When Black businesses fail, are unable to get off the ground, or underperform, it doesn’t just add to the racial wealth gap — it costs all Americans money.

Inflation is now the dominating topic in economics news: with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) hitting a 40-year high at an annualized rate of 7.9%, and the Fed’s recent decision to increase interest rates by a quarter point, it is now a top-of-mind issue for every American household.

LISEP Chair Gene Ludwig spoke about the True Cost of Living (TLC) at a virtual Axios event on The Affordability Crisis on March 9. Esteemed speakers included Heather Boushey of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and UC Berkeley public policy professor Robert Reich.

When federal government largesse was being shown for larger institutions to mop up the mess of 2008, we didn’t save a legendary community development bank serving the South Side of Chicago – one that knew that community and catered to its families so well. An international icon of American community development lending, a pioneer, destroyed.

For decades, regulators have embraced a set of policies that, when recessions arise, force the closure of struggling lenders that serve poorer and marginalized communities. In practice, this has the effect of allowing investors to purchase the closed lenders’ assets (loans and properties) while they’re devalued. This vicious cycle has steadily worsened inequality.

During the course of the pandemic, Memphis lost a substantial number of jobs that pay a living wage, according to at least one Washington D.C.-based think tank that focuses on economic development for the lower and middle classes. LISEP defines “functional unemployment” as being employed but not at a livable wage, or working part time at a job due to unavailability of full-time jobs with benefits.

In November 2021, 23.6% of the labor force was functionally unemployed, meaning they are seeking, but unable to find, full-time employment paying above the poverty level, which we conservatively peg at $20,000 a year. By contrast, the headline number we all heard about was 4.2%.

Forget shipping delays. A deluge of truck traffic and abandoned containers at the Port of Los Angeles creates daily hazards for residents in the neighboring community of Wilmington.

Even before the pandemic, nearly one in three Californian households struggled to pay for basic necessities, according to the United Ways of California. During the pandemic, a report from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity found that 4.8 million Californians were seeking, but unable to find, full-time work that paid a living wage.

Statewide, 85.7% of the jobs lost during COVID are back. Plus: Wages are up, unemployment rate falls again and another look at the true unemployed.

Despite all the buzz about the “Great Resignation,” labor shortages, and 10 million unfilled job openings, this is the underlying reality: Many tens of millions of Americans are jobless for lack of job opportunity.

Memphis lost more living-wage jobs during the pandemic than most metros around the country, according to a new analysis from a think tank focused on economic equity for the middle and lower class.

While the Twin Cities metro’s unemployment rate is technically a low 2.6%, the “true” number of people who are unemployed — by one analysis — is much higher than that.

While a 7.5% unemployment rate is dismal, it may also understate the true nature of the job situation in California.

California’s official unemployment rate is 7.5%. But a newer method of measuring unemployment reveals a far larger portion of the state is struggling to find full-time employment that pays enough to cover the cost of living.

For some, September’s headline figure is woefully misleading, as it is every month. What if the “true” unemployment rate is actually closer to 22%?

There is an enormous (but invisible) supply of labor that companies can hire to keep costs down.

Economic recoveries should be judged not simply by how many jobs come online, but by whether the jobs created pay a reliably middle-class wage.

It has been an interesting month, with some overall good news for the economy – particularly for low- and middle-income Americans.

LISEP was born out of my longstanding focus on the economic realities for middle- and low-income Americans, which has become even more central, I believe, for our shared American experience.

After decades of calls to expand the Community Reinvestment Act’s anti-redlining obligations to nonbanks, the idea is going mainstream thanks to key endorsements from states and even the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

“If we walk around America and walk around Washington D.C., we see some things that are quite disturbing,” says former Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig. “You see huge homeless communities in many cities and towns in America, you see dilapidation in areas that used to be lovely. And you begin to say, well, if we have the low unemployment rates that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has put out, why do we have the situation that we see?”

The gap between White Americans’ wages and everybody else's grew even larger in the first quarter of this year, according to new data from LISEP, the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity.

A new cadre of financial regulators can transform the financial world’s role in the fight against prejudice and inequality.

Policymakers shouldn’t be fooled by a bullish stock market or what appears to be plummeting unemployment rates. Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas.

American workers are making less than official estimates show, according to new analysis. U.S. workers earn a median weekly wage of $797, or $41,456 a year, according to the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, which analyzed data up until 2020. That’s 19% below official estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a widely-used measure of pay.

Low wages, risky jobs put LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC and women in the line of fire

The country needs this amount of relief — or more.

Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity Chair Gene Ludwig joins the Yahoo Finance Live panel to discuss the impact of unemployment amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As the world of finance has changed, the Community Reinvestment Act’s reach has failed to keep pace. Of most concern, large portions of the lending marketplace have been claimed by nonbank lenders that are not subject to the CRA’s regulations. Today, that disparity threatens to undermine the spirit of equality the CRA intended nearly a half-century ago.

These days the headline unemployment rate isn’t just an undercount, it actually paints an alternate reality that masks the degree to which low- and moderate-income people are hurting. As a result, policymakers believe these Americans are better off than they actually are.

Of the various measures of the coronavirus pandemic’s comet strike on the U.S. economy, one especially reveals the size of the crater: Over a six-month period, nearly 8 million Americans have tumbled into poverty.

The true unemployment rate for women isn't going down, as official statistics suggest. In fact, it's going up — at least according to the most recent analysis of official data from LISEP, the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity.

Official government figures show that unemployment around the U.S. has fallen sharply since peaking at nearly 15% in April as the coronavirus was shuttering businesses left and right. Yet the jobless rate as depicted in headlines offers a skewed picture of employment today, failing to capture the real financial pressure bearing down on millions of Americans, according to a new study.

The winner of the race for the White House will face a generation of low-to-middle income Americans struggling to get back to work because of a health crisis not seen in more than 100 years.

Former Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig has written a book, The Vanishing American Dream, about the plight of middle- and low-income Americans.

A person who is looking for a full-time job that pays a living wage — but who can't find one — is unemployed. If you accept that definition, the true unemployment rate in the U.S. is a stunning 26.1%, according to an important new dataset shared exclusively with "Axios on HBO."

Present markets will probably prompt lenders to serve wealthier individuals and bigger companies first, exacerbating inequality. Fortunately, regulators have within their grasp several tools to direct lending to the businesses and low-income families — including many minority communities — where it will do the most good.

Outrage over generous loans to well-heeled businesses is obscuring another troubling problem: The Federal Reserve’s efforts to preserve liquidity in the corporate debt market are, however inadvertently, sending wealth up the income scale, exacerbating inequality.

To read the economic reports coming out of Washington, you might assume that the American economy is firing on all cylinders. But beneath this rosy picture is a much darker reality.

A different picture emerges looking at the homeless people gathered by the Federal Reserve building in DC, or in visiting my hometown, York, Pennsylvania, where wages have stagnated and factories have closed.