Return of the good old days

A recent study shows Americans earn more, spend less on necessities, and have a much higher standard of living than they did 100 years ago. So why do people tend to view the past as a simpler, easier time?

Guests

• Meg Jacobs: Associate professor of history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the author of "Pocketbook Politics: Economic Citizenship in Twentieth Century America."
• Michael Dolfman: Regional commissioner for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, based in New York. He's one of the authors of the BLS study "100 Years of Consumer Spending: Data for the Nation, New York City, and Boston."
• Sean Scanlan: Instructor in the English department at the University of Iowa.

Resources

• 100 Years of Consumer Spending: Data for the Nation, New York City, and Boston
• About Meg Jacobs