NJ Economics - An Introduction I Guess?

I live in Northern New Jersey and it’s a heck of a place to live. People from New Jersey are often ridiculed for perceived negative attitudes, mannerisms, etc.

Fact: Bergen County (the county where I currently reside) is home to just about 1 million people.

Fact: Slightly more than 750,000 above the age of 18.

Fact: Median income is just under $70,000 a year.

Fact: Median is middle.

Fact: There’s more room for expansion of digits above $70,000 than there is below.

Fact: There are about 500,000 jobs in Bergen County.

Fact: Bergen County consists of 250 square miles

Problem: What do you do when 750,000 people are vying for jobs allocated for 500,000 people?

Let’s say that an average workday runs from 8am to 5pm. So a person earning 70 grand a year would earn somewhere in the vicinity of $25 per hour they could work. Cost of living can be estimated conservatively at $40,000 per year per individual. Let that sink in for a second. Per individual.

Societal factors – keeping up with the Jones’s. How often do you think an individual competing for a job will allow competition to delve into the societal realm? Fairly good bet – a significant amount. Thank you MasterCard for extending me an expanding credit line that I only need to pay $10 a month for!

People outside of New Jersey tend to think those from ‘Joisey’ are rude, obnoxious, and overly competitive. Think about it this way: a Bergen county resident competes against at least one other person for a job in the population (1.5 to be exact) to earn a wage that is sometimes insufficient for the means which they seek to live by. The idea would be to work as many hours in order to attain a higher wage or just send your best regards to MasterCard every month! Not only that, but each resident of Bergen County possesses less than one square foot of his/her own in the entire county.

If I wanted to earn wages someone else was not only earning but was also encroaching on the precious few inches I had, I’d be pretty good and pissed off too!