alligator economics
n.— «One reason why the wage-earning middle class increasingly can’t afford California is that wages, adjusted for inflation, have been stagnant for two decades. In the same time, the percentage of income needed to pay for rent, healthcare and child care has spiraled. Economists call this “alligator economics,” because wages are a horizontal or falling line, while costs rise like an alligator’s upper jaw.» —“Though Far From Poor, a Family Struggles Daily” by Geoffrey Mohan Los Angeles Times May 18, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
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