1. The accompanying table contains data on the U.S. economy for the years 1983 and 2013. The second column shows the poverty threshold. The third column shows the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of the overall level of prices. And the fourth column shows U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, a measure of the standard of living.
| Year | Poverty threshold |
CPI (1982–1984 = 100) | GDP per capita |
| 1983 | $5,180 | 99.6 | $15,525 |
| 2013 | 11,490 | 233.0 | 53,086 |
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Data from: U.S. Census Bureau; Bureau of Labor Statistics; Bureau of Economic Analysis. |
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By what factor has the poverty threshold increased from 1983 to 2013? That is, has it doubled, tripled, and so on?
By what factor has the CPI (a measure of the overall price level) increased from 1983 to 2013? That is, has it doubled, tripled, and so on?
By what factor has GDP per capita (a measure of the standard of living) increased from 1983 to 2013? That is, has it doubled, tripled, and so on?
What do your results tell you about how people officially classified as “poor” have done economically relative to other U.S. citizens?