So, let's talk about Megan's post and Andrew's article. I read Megan's post last week when there were only 4 comments.There are 290 comment right now. (BTW, there's a laura in the comment section at Megan's blog. Not me.)

So, Andrews writes about how he, an economics reporter for the New York Times, managed to get so far in debt that his house will be foreclosed on as soon Chase gets around to it. He says that it was too easy to get money and that he and his new wife had trouble spending within their means. For them, being middle class meant a house, J.Crew clothes and a vacation, but a reporter's salary + child support payments for a previous marriage = not much leftover.

Megan describes the article as brave. It was. But it was also a tad annoying. I shop the clearance rack. We plug in every cent we spend into Quicken. My kids wear shoes from Payless. We drive one car.  I find it difficult to summon up pity for this guy. Nobody should feel entitled to J. Crew sweaters.

And yes, I guess it is difficult to be in a profession that is high status, but not well compensated. Brooks describes this as Status Income Disequilibrium. Megan says that this is a real phenomenon.

…unless you are among that happy breed of writers who is married to someone with a high-paying job, or who has a trust fund, you feel it keenly.  Everyone you write about makes more than you.  Most of the people you know make more than you.  And you come to feel that shopping at the farmer's market, travelling to Europe, drinking good coffee, are minimum necessities.  Your house is small, your furniture is shabby, and you can't even really afford to shop at Whole Foods.  Yet you're at the top of your field, working for one of the world's top media outlets.  This can't be so.

Yes, it does suck to be really good at something, have a great deal of recognition, work really hard, but be less well compensated than your plumber. Academics gripe about this all the time. In fact, my family has a talent for seeking out these high status/low salary jobs  — journalism, academia, publishing. Still, you have to get over it. Get some new friends who are poorer than you. Befriend grad students.

A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a dad on my kid's soccer team. He is a contractor who has barely had any work in two years. A Vietnam vet, who served his country and built homes for people is having a tough time putting food on the table for his five kids. He's ticked off, because he can't afford the taxes in town, illegal immigrants are doing his job for a tenth of the price, and nobody seems to care that boys are coming back from Iraq without their limbs.

I was reading Marx to my theory students recently. Marx describes the transition between economic systems as rough. There are also people who benefit from the old orders who lose out as the transition happens. I'm not a big Marxist and never got into his stages of historical materialism, but I do wonder if there is a transition going on.

In the mean time, people, don't run up big credit card debt.