America’s Split-Screen Economy
The top 10% are responsible for nearly half of the consumer spending that’s keeping the economy afloat. There’s something disturbing about a tiny number of people having so much money that it effectively masks how poor everyone else is.
Despite the triumphant White House rhetoric, our country’s economy is failing by the metric that matters most, which is whether people who live here are able to meet their basic needs without backbreaking effort. (STR / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Americans are spending like never before,” boasted the Donald Trump White House in a press release on Wednesday. “Retail sales are booming — up 5% over last year, far outpacing inflation — as Americans spend in record amounts.”
What the press release neglected to mention, however, is that the top 10 percent of American earners were responsible for almost half of consumer spending in the second quarter.
Their record-high 49.2 percent spending share is keeping the economy looking healthy by some metrics. But stepping back, it’s hard to see good health in an economy where job hiring is slowing down, debt delinquencies are on the rise, and luxury spending by a small cohort is so lavish that it artificially obscures the belt-tightening of a vastly larger cohort.
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