Congratulations! The cost of your health insurance is increasing.

What? You don’t think that’s a reason for celebration? Good, you’re avoiding a mistake that’s far too common among economic analysts, especially Republicans.

Academic studies and news media regularly report that in recent decades the middle class has been stagnating economically. Conservative and libertarian analysts often downplay these stories by saying that while wages for people in the middle of the economic spectrum may look flat, their total compensation has been rising steadily.