‘Tapped out’: This group will decide if the US economy ends up plunging into a recession – Alternet
The economy is cracking. This trend is most alarming. – Heather Long/WaPost
“The U.S. economy is growing ever more reliant on top earners. It’s risky — and tough for the middle class.”
“The ‘K-shaped’ economy is back, where there’s a clear divergence between how the top and the bottom are faring… ‘In the near term, everything rests on what that top 10 percent decides to do or not to do. The rest of the income distribution is really not consequential from a macroeconomic perspective,’ Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s, told me. Zandi finds that the top 20 percent of households continue to grow their spending, though they have pulled back somewhat amid so much uncertainty. Meanwhile, the bottom 80 percent of households are basically just keeping their spending growth in line with inflation.”
Trump Pledged to Bring Back Manufacturing. The Sector Is Sputtering – WSJ