Casey B Mulligan, who really must be a comedian doing a parody of a Chicago School Economist, holds forth in a recent Economix blog posting in the Times about the fantastic performance of the US economy in 2008.

His main argument is this: In 2008 average annual income per person in the US was $46,000.

Now Wonks Anonymous will readily admit that this is a pile of money. If each of the members of the Wonks Anonymous household were to receive this much income then the household would see a significant rise in its already upper middle class lifestyle.

Wonks Anonymous wonders where all this income is going. Are you hiding something from me dear readers?

Wonks Anonymous also wonders why, with income per person - working and unemployed, man, woman, senior citizen and infant child -  so high, we cannot manage to "afford" basic health care for all, good universal education or even road repairs.

If you think that this system is working just ask someone who isn't.