During the 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy, the man after whom Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry has styled his campaign, spoke of a "missile gap" between the United States and the Soviet Union. Although the missile gap was a myth, it was an effective political tool that helped the earlier JFK to a narrow election victory.

IN HIS nomination acceptance speech Thursday night, today's JFK claimed there is a huge economic gap. Really? Not according to Business Week magazine in an article that says the economy is creating more high-paying jobs than low-paying jobs: It reports in its July 26 issue that "40 percent of American workers belong to occupation/industry groups where the median pay is $559 a week or more. Yet employment growth in those higher-paying groups accounted for well over half of total job growth during the past year. Average monthly employment in the higher-paying groups was 744,000 higher in the 12 months ended in June, 2004, than in the previous 12- month period. By contrast, only 408,000 jobs were added in groups whose median pay was $553 a week or less, even though they account for 52 percent of total jobs."