Is It Easier for You to Go and Buy Things in the Stores Than It Was Four Years Ago?

From the tiny increase in median U.S. household income, to the surge in gun sales under President Obama, to a consideration of the Great Recession and the “protracted” recovery, we examine Americans’ buying power in the past four years:

Income Is Flat

Dinner Costs More

Most Other Stuff Costs More, Too

Homes Lost Value

Energy Costs More, but We Use Less

U.S. Households’ Buying Power Shrank

In Tough Times, Treat Yourself

The Obama Gun Surge

Stocks Doubled

Video: Better Off: Stocks Will Never Fully Recover, Right?

The U.S. Debt Vortex

Government Debt Is Our Debt, and Other Issues

Bailouts, Deadbeats, and Paybacks

Corporations Are Sitting on $1.7 Trillion in Cash

Video: Better Off: Did Those Bailout Billions Just Vanish?

The Business Cycle Doesn’t Care Who’s President

The Great Recession: An ‘Affair’ to Remember