Jim Hightower

What does the Dow Jones Average mean to you?

Headlines shout, The Dow s gonna go above 3500!

Well, 3500 what? I know some ex-Hippies here in South Austin who ve been higher than 3500 for years. They don t know where they are, either.

The media solemnly reports the Dow Jones Average every day. But I think it s time we heard the Doug Jones Average. Yeah, how s Doug doing? We need a real-life measure of How ya doin? for the 80 percent of Americans who don t own stocks and bonds, who re just trying to get their wages and monthly bills to shake hands and be friends again.

Why not an economic report that goes something like this:

[Music]

The Doug Jones Average took another tumble on this week s news that major industrials including Sears, Boeing and United Technologies were eliminating another 100,000 jobs.

Turning now to the Doug s Lunch Bucket Index, the price of Spam was holding steady, citrus was down slightly due to seasonal fluctuations, but whole-wheat bread and packaged snacks jumped another five points each, signaling a poor performance this quarter for the Doug s family budget.

Interest on bank deposits continued flat at under 3 percent, while credit-card interest rates held high at 18 to 24 percent, further pinching the Doug s bottom line.

Finally, the Doug s Consumer Confidence was depressed by reports from Washington that a 50 cent gasoline tax and a national consumption tax were under active consideration. [Music]

This is Jim Hightower saying, the Doug Jones Average unlike the Dow puts people back into economics. Don t let Wall Street whiz on you there is no national prosperity until you and your co-workers are prospering, too.