We took Clementis suggestion and divided the most recent estimate of black earned income, $1 trillion, by the Census Bureau estimate of 44.5 million African-Americans. That would create a per capita buying power of around $23,000 a year, which would translate to around 34th around the world on the International Monetary Fund’s list of countries by GDP per capita (between the Bahamas and Malta). But $23,000 doesn’t go as far in the United States as, say, in Lithuania. Economists multiply GDP per capita by a conversion factor called purchasing power parity to account for the different values of goods and services in different countries. If you apply these factors, the African-American population’s $23,000 a year ranks 44th (between Portugal and Lithuania). The United States as a whole, for comparison, ranks seventh. politifact/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/02/larry-elder/larry-elder-if-black-america-were-country-itd-be-1/
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 02:17:37 +0000