With all the talk about what to do with the Bush tax cuts — and whether they should be extended for no one, everyone, or everyone under a certain income cutoff — we thought it made sense to check in on how much Americans actually make.
Roughly $50,000. That's how much the median households makes in income and benefits per year. In other words, half of American households made less than $50,000 and half made more.
Patrons pack in at American Coney in this undated photo. 1942
Credit Coney Detroit
Anthony "Tony" Keros, the oldest son of the founder of Lafayette Coney Island, is largely responsible for why Coney Islands exist at many Detroit-area malls today.
Credit Photo by Rob Terwilliger / Coney Detroit
Coneys are so associated with Greek American culture in the Detroit area that when he opened his Coney along Woodward Avenue in 1964, William Lipson — who isn't Greek — felt compelled to name it Athens.
Credit Photo by Rob Terwilliger / Coney Detroit
Athens Coney Island has been satisfying Coney lovers along Woodward Avenue, one of the Detroit area's busiest streets, since 1964. It has grown from a dozen seats to 92. Woodward Avenue boasted the first mile of paved concrete roads in the United States; today it is home to about a dozen Coney Island restaurants. The diner-style architecture of Athens makes it stand out.
Credit Photo by Rob Terwilliger / Coney Detroit
Don't you dare reach for the catsup on the counter at Kalamazoo's Coney Island Lunch. Catsup is for the fires, and we don't see any. Putting catsup on a coney can get you tossed out of a place. Knife and fork are optional. Napkins? Mandatory.
Credit Photo by Marion Toptani / Coney Detroit
Duly's is one of the oldest Coneys in Detroit. Located in the southwest of the city, it still looks much as it did in this undated photo. Founder Duly Seit is seen behind the counter, making sure his customers have plenty of Coney dogs to eat.
Credit Photo by Rob Terwilliger / Coney Detroit
Coneys and cars — a duo with a long history. The Mega Coney Island chain sells both Detroit-style Coneys, topped with a bean-less meat chili, and the Flint version, which come with a loose-meat topping.
Credit Photo by Eric Peoples / Coney Detroit
The late James Gifto (left) and Tom Giftos Jr. built National Coney Island, an empire of more than 20 restaurants – in some cases with three in a single town.
Credit Photo by Keith Burgess / Coney Detroit
Jerry Abu El Hawa, a 30-year coneyman, serves up hot dogs at American Coney Island, one of Detroit's most storied Coney joints, located in the heart of downtown.
Credit Coney Detroit
Coneys are so associated with Greek American culture in the Detroit area that when he opened his Coney along Woodward Avenue in 1964, William Lipson — who isn't Greek — felt compelled to name it Athens.
Credit Coney Detroit
Anthony "Tony" Keros, the oldest son of the founder of Lafayette Coney Island, is largely responsible for why Coney Islands exist at many Detroit-area malls today.
Credit Coney Detroit
new caption 3
Credit Coney Detroit
Athens Coney Island has been satisfying Coney lovers along Woodward Avenue, one of the Detroit area's busiest streets, since 1964. It has grown from a dozen seats to 92. Woodward Avenue boasted the first mile of paved concrete roads in the United States; today it is home to about a dozen Coney Island restaurants. The diner-style architecture of Athens makes it stand out.
Credit Coney Detroit
Duly's is one of the oldest Coneys in Detroit. Located in the southwest of the city, it still looks much as it did in this undated photo. Founder Duly Seit is seen behind the counter, making sure his customers have plenty of Coney dogs to eat.
Credit Coney Detroit
new caption
Credit Coney Detroit
Coneys and cars — a duo with a long history. The Mega Coney Island chain sells both Detroit-style Coneys, topped with a bean-less meat chili, and the Flint version, which come with a loose-meat topping.
Credit Coney Detroit
Jerry Abu El Hawa, a 30-year coneyman, serves up hot dogs at American Coney Island, one of Detroit's most storied Coney joints, located in the heart of downtown.
Credit Coney Detroit
new caption 2
Credit Coney Detroit
Coneys are so associated with Greek American culture in the Detroit area that when he opened his Coney along Woodward Avenue in 1964, William Lipson — who isn't Greek — felt compelled to name it Athens.
Credit Coney Detroit
Anthony "Tony" Keros, the oldest son of the founder of Lafayette Coney Island, is largely responsible for why Coney Islands exist at many Detroit-area malls today.
Credit Coney Detroit
Coney Island Dog
Credit Coney Detroit
Athens Coney Island has been satisfying Coney lovers along Woodward Avenue, one of the Detroit area's busiest streets, since 1964. It has grown from a dozen seats to 92. Woodward Avenue boasted the first mile of paved concrete roads in the United States; today it is home to about a dozen Coney Island restaurants. The diner-style architecture of Athens makes it stand out.
Credit Coney Detroit
Duly's is one of the oldest Coneys in Detroit. Located in the southwest of the city, it still looks much as it did in this undated photo. Founder Duly Seit is seen behind the counter, making sure his customers have plenty of Coney dogs to eat.
Credit Coney Detroit
Coney dog and a drink
Credit Coney Detroit
Coneys and cars — a duo with a long history. The Mega Coney Island chain sells both Detroit-style Coneys, topped with a bean-less meat chili, and the Flint version, which come with a loose-meat topping.
Credit Coney Detroit
Jerry Abu El Hawa, a 30-year coneyman, serves up hot dogs at American Coney Island, one of Detroit's most storied Coney joints, located in the heart of downtown.
Credit Coney Detroit
Brothers
Credit Rob Terwilliger / Coney Detroit
Coneys are so associated with Greek American culture in the Detroit area that when he opened his diner along Woodward Avenue in 1964, William Lipson — who isn't Greek — felt compelled to name it Athens.
Credit Coney Detroit
Anthony "Tony" Keros, the oldest son of the founder of Lafayette Coney Island, is largely responsible for why Coney Islands exist at many Detroit-area malls today.
Credit Coney Detroit
There are several key ingredients that define a Detroit Coney: A steamed bun, a natural-casing hot dog (usually a blend of beef and pork), a beanless chili topping, chopped onions and mustard. Forks are optional. Napkins? Mandatory.
Credit Rob Terwilliger / Coney Detroit
Athens Coney Island is on Woodward Avenue, which boasted the first mile of paved concrete roads in the United States; today it is home to about a dozen Coney Island restaurants.
Credit Courtesy Marion Toptani / Coney Detroit
Duly's is one of the oldest Coneys in Detroit. Located in the southwest of the city, it still looks much as it did in this undated photo.
Credit Rob Terwilliger / Coney Detroit
A view of the counter at the Coney Island Lunch in Kalamazoo, founded in 1915 by Greek immigrant Gus Marinos. When eating a Coney, don't grab for that ketchup — "you could get thrown out for that," warns Joe Grimm.
Credit Eric Peoples / Coney Detroit
The late James Gifto (left) and Tom Giftos Jr. built National Coney Island, an empire of more than 20 restaurants — in some cases, with three in a single town.
Credit Rob Terwilliger / Coney Detroit
Coneys and cars — a duo with a long history. The Mega Coney Island chain sells both Detroit-style Coneys, topped with a beanless meat chili, and the Flint version, which come with a loose-meat topping.
Credit Keith Burgess / Coney Detroit
Jerry Abu El Hawa serves up hot dogs at American Coney Island, one of Detroit's most storied Coney joints.
Credit Coney Detroit
Forks are optional when tackling a Coney. Napkins? Mandatory.
Originally published on Fri October 26, 2012 10:18 am
Take a hot dog from New York's famed Coney Island, throw in plenty of Greek immigrants and a booming auto industry, add some chili sauce, a steamed bun, chopped onions, mustard and an epic sibling rivalry and you've got the makings of a classic American melting pot story.
Our show on Friday told the cautionary tale of the Red Cross, and how it earned the lasting suspicion of World War II veterans when it temporarily charged for once-free doughnuts.
Uri Simonsohn, a University of Pennsylvania business professor, chalked it up to "categorical change" — and the sense of betrayal veterans felt when they saw a fundamental shift in the very nature of their relationship with the Red Cross.
Mark Zuckerberg, right, and Andrew Houston, founder and chief executive of Dropbox, wait in a parked car for the traffic to clear out at the Sun Valley Lodge during the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference last week.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, one of the country's largest unions, is facing a difficult climate. Local governments are slashing employee pensions and state governments are considering measures to curb collective bargaining rights. Host Michel Martin talks with Lee Saunders, AFSCME's new president.
We all know an out-of-control financial sector can cause acute and long-lasting problems, thanks to the recent financial crisis. But is there also a more chronic drag on the economy when the finance crowd gets too thick?
One recent paper (PDF) suggests so, and tries to quantify just how much a bloated financial sector can hurt economic growth.
The bad news: Retail sales fell 0.5 percent in June from May, the Census Bureau says. It's the third straight month that sales have been down from the month before.
But, Census adds that June sales were 3.8 percent above the pace of June 2011. And, "sales for the April through June 2012 period were up 4.7 percent ... from the same period a year ago."
The recession came close to killing off some of the American automakers. Now in a slow recovery, the American companies are doing better. Japanese car companies, some of them, are struggling - in particular some of the smaller Japanese automakers are facing trouble. NPR's Sonari Glinton looks at the fortunes of what are known as the Little Three.
And let's stay in the land of milk and honey, because our last word in business takes us to a barnyard venture that is solving to very old problems at once. The first is keeping unwanted plants out of a productive vegetable garden. The second, more existential problem is finding a suitable romantic partner. And the last word is weed dating.
Until this past weekend, Romney generally ignored invitations to be interviewed, except on Fox News. Then on Friday night, he did a series of TV talks defending his work at Bain Capital.
NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik was watching.
Will American emerge from bankruptcy as a stand-alone airline, or will it merge with US Airways? An American spokesman says it's considering all options.
Imagine going into bankruptcy with billions of dollars in cash still in your bank account. That's what American Airlines did last November. The thinking was that management would gut the company's pensions and union contracts and emerge from bankruptcy ready to compete.
But then US Airways said it could take over American and be profitable, and it wouldn't have to hurt American's employees nearly as bad in the process. American's pilots, mechanics and flight attendants loved that idea.
Bulls are judged with a "dummy" weight for four seconds to see how hard they will jump and twist to buck a rider. Bulls that do well can sell for up to $50,000.
The bucking bull has long been the embodiment of the American rodeo, and it takes just four seconds for a strong young bull to reap its owner as much as $50,000 in prize money.
Four seconds is how long each 1- or 2-year-old bull will wear a weight strapped to its back as the massive animal is judged on how high it kicks and how much it twists.
In the past 10 years, bucking bulls have become a major industry. The price of the best bloodlines can soar to $250,000, and competitions take place everywhere from Madison Square Garden to Wyoming.
Agriculture is a key job sector in Yuma, Ariz., where the seasonal workforce and migrant labor tend to boost the unemployment rate.
Credit Dale Wetzel / AP
Construction workers ease a steel girder into place as part of a remodeling and expansion of the North Dakota State Penitentiary in Bismarck, N.D. An energy boom has helped the state maintain a budget surplus.
Maria Arvizu continues to fill out job applications even though she has yet to deposit her last paycheck.
Arvizu, 53, relocated to Yuma, Ariz., to become a bus driver for the local school district last year. After school closed for summer break, she was caught off guard when she was laid off. She had expected to get another driving assignment and was denied collecting unemployment because she was still considered a school employee.
