Charts of the week: Democratic House challengers, well-being in France, it’s not just the 1%

Click on the links or on the charts to go to the full research.

DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGERS HAVE RAISED MORE THAN 2X THE MONEY AS PREVIOUS REPUBLICAN HIGH

Research from Fixgov shows that, following the release of candidates’ FEC six-month financial reports, there was a spike in congressional challengers on the Democratic side. “As of the end of June,” according to Michael Malbin, “209 Democratic challengers had registered with the FEC and raised at least $5,000. That more than doubled the previous high mark since 2003.”

France leads U.S. in some measures of well-being

Although the U.S. “is way ahead of countries like France on narrow economic metrics,” work from Brookings’s Social Mobility Memos outlines how France leads in alternative measures, such as inequality, work-life balance, and health. “GDP is a vitally important and necessary measure, not least for helping guide monetary and fiscal policy,” write Eleanor Krause and Isabel Sawhill. “But it does not capture all of the things that make life worth living. We should pay more attention to alternative metrics and learn some lessons from the French approach to life.”

It’s not just the 1 percent pulling away

Richard Reeves explains that the sustained gains by the top quintile of the income distribution—not just the 1%—are what we should really pay attention to. “The income of the 20 percent including the top 1 percent rose by a whopping 92 percent. But even without the 1 percent, the rise was 70 percent, twice that for those in the middle.”

Sam Dart contributed to this post.