Essential Basket · Indexed Growth Since 1979
The Cost of Staying In the Game
Six things a person needs to remain economically functional. All indexed to 1979 = 100.
Worker wages shown for scale. The swamp filled in slowly — one line at a time.
Sources: BLS CPI for All Urban Consumers — shelter, food at home, medical care, public transportation, utility (piped gas + electricity), telephone services series, 1979–2024. Worker wages: BLS Current Employment Statistics, production & nonsupervisory workers, nominal hourly earnings. All series indexed to 1979 = 100. Communication series begins 1997; prior values held at 100 for display. Transit 2020–2022 reflects pandemic-era distortion.
Christine Marletti
the-alignment-economy.com