Do you feel richer? In real terms? Or in any other terms for that matter?

If your answer’s “no” (or “NO!”) don’t worry, you aren’t alone. I can assure you, you’re not alone.

But according to Census Bureau data released on Tuesday, median incomes rose last year across the richest country history’s ever known (a country where, inexplicably and inexcusably, pockets of almost Third World-style poverty still exist).

The typical household earned $80,610 in 2023, a 4% increase from 2022, when incomes fell a third straight year.

As the figure shows, household earnings remained short of pre-pandemic levels.

Not surprisingly, gains accrued primarily to white households. White incomes rose 5% to $84,630, while Black families saw their earnings increase just 2% to $56,880. Hispanic incomes were unchanged at $65,540. That disparity — between white families and minority households, both in income levels and growth — underscores the message from “40 Acres,” the latest Monthly Letter.

Joe Biden lost significant support among Hispanic voters between 2020 and 2024, and among Black voters too. Donald Trump won’t command any more than 15% of the Black vote, but he doesn’t have to: A few percentage points here or there in close states could tip the race, no pun intended.

Just like every single other president in modern American history, Kamala Harris is running on promises to help the middle class. She’s genuine about it. That’s not the problem. The problem is that generally speaking, none of them (presidents) ever deliver on that promise, and the middle class damn well knows it. Authenticity’s irrelevant if the results aren’t there.

Plainly, Trump doesn’t give a single damn about the American middle class unless it’s Election day, but then again, he doesn’t give a damn about anybody or anything else either, so in that regard, “typical” Americans aren’t necessarily at a disadvantage when it comes to his priorities. Forced to choose between regular people on one side and corporate “people” and people like him on the other, Trump will go with the latter every time, though, which is why the benefits of his “middle class” economic policies accrue disproportionately to corporations and high earners. The math backs that assessment as it relates to his 2017 tax cuts, and the math will likewise show that any tax cuts he manages to implement in a hypothetical second term primarily benefit the C-suite and people who don’t need any more money.

The problem for Harris is that her legacy as Vice President is inextricably bound up with three consecutive years of negative real income growth for typical American families, the vast majority of whom don’t understand, don’t care to understand and in a lot of cases both, that inflation wasn’t mostly about Bidenomics.

Anyway, you’re either serving the charcuterie or you’re eating it. If you’re on the wrong side of the cold cuts, don’t worry: The billionaire felon will fix it.