Prosperity For All: things are better than they’ve ever been.

“For many people, owning a home defines the American Dream, and 68 percent of families now do — the highest percentage on record. Three-quarters of Americans drive their own cars. The vast majority of households possess color televisions (98 percent), videocassette recorders (94 percent), microwave ovens (90 percent), frost-free refrigerators (87 percent), washing machines (83 percent), and clothes dryers (75 percent). In the past decade or so, computers and cell phones have become commonplace. . . . 135 million Americans now own mobile telephones.”

— from “Off the Books” in the August 2002 issue of Reason. (Link via Dan Pink’s Just One Thing.)