One of the reasons often cited to explain how Bill Clinton has high approval ratings, despite his personal problems, is that the economy is "doing great."

Certainly, the normal indicators--stock market, gross domestic product, inflation, job growth, unemployment, welfare rolls and the like--are being touted, to suggest that "everybody" is doing well. Allow me to disagree.

To say that the rich are getting richer is true, but that's only the tip of the iceberg (apologies to the Titanic). If your income derives from wages, you're probably NOT doing all that well. You are likely toiling longer, working harder, worrying more and achieving no improved well-being or security. During the 1990s, real wages adjusted for inflation have fallen. Chances are that your benefits package hasn't improved much, either. It is unprecedented to have real wages fall while the economy's overall GDP is increasing by a third.

You keep hearing about low unemployment, but there are constant stories of major down-sizing, as well. The truth is that there is huge growth in relatively low-paying jobs, while those people in middle management and higher are worried about continuing employment.

The Internet is great from a user standpoint, but so far, only the phone companies are making any money from it directly. Netscape, which made "instanaires" out of Marc Andreessen and James Barksdale, lost $88 million in the December, 1997 quarter.

Go into any retail establishment these days, and you'll see sales all the time. That never happened during the booms of the 1960's.

Everyone I know is working harder than they ever did before. What about doctors? Their incomes have been cut back by the third party payers. Even if they were over-compensated in past years, are they doing great today?

Go ahead and laugh, but one Bill Gates can really skew that curve.

My take on it is this: Unless you are Bill Gates, a professional athlete, a major entertainer, or someone close to that level, you are probably putting in lots of hours to just get by. You tell your friends, and they tell you, that they are "doing great." To say otherwise would be un-American.

I mean, if we're working so hard, we MUST be doing well, right?