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WASHINGTON (AP) — The growing gap between the richest Americans and everyone else isn't bad just for individuals.It's hurting the U.S. economy.
So says a majority of more than three dozen economists surveyed last week by The Associated Press. Their concerns tap into a debate that's intensified as middle-class pay has stagnated while wealthier households have thrived.
A key source of the economists' concern: Higher pay and outsize stock market gains are flowing mainly to affluent Americans. Yet these households spend less of their money than do low- and middle-income consumers who make up most of the population but whose pay is barely rising.
"What you want is a broader spending base," says Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James, a financial advisory firm. "You want more people spending money."
Spending by wealthier Americans, given the weight of their dollars, does help drive the economy. But analysts say the economy would be better able to sustain its growth if the riches were more evenly dispersed. For one thing, a plunge in stock prices typically leads wealthier Americans to cut sharply back on their spending.
A wide gap in pay limits the ability of poorer and middle-income Americans to improve their living standards, the economists say. About 80 percent of stock market wealth is held by the richest 10 percent of Americans. That means the stock market's outsize gains this year have mostly benefited the already affluent.
Read more @: AP survey: US income gap is holding back economy
No surprise here. Seems that this trickle down economic theory isnt working at all, also not a surprise.
What happened during the 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's? Had much of the same programs around and was not even close to this giant income gap.The income gap has nothing to do with "trickle down" theory. It has everything to do with the government subsidizing unproductive behavior.
When you take a low income individual and subsidize their lifestyle it first makes becoming more productive more difficult for the individual and then makes being unproductive more tolerable.
Many of the most substantial subsidies didn't exist in the 40's-70's and where they did they were minimal.
What a bunch of horse dung, people in general want to be employed and earning a wage. Unemployment insurance injects money into the economy... people receiving benefits spend it immediately.The income gap has nothing to do with "trickle down" theory. It has everything to do with the government subsidizing unproductive behavior.
When you take a low income individual and subsidize their lifestyle it first makes becoming more productive more difficult for the individual and then makes being unproductive more tolerable.
Someone with two kids under the age of 16 and a part time job paying $20k/yr will, with subsidies, end up with the same "walking around" money as someone else in the same situation unsubsidized making $45k. That means that the person receiving these benefits has to make a 200+% income jump to be able to afford the same lifestyle. The result is that LOTS of people just decide to live with the subsidies and make a few bucks on the side to fill in any gaps they might run into.
What happened during the 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's? Had much of the same programs around and was not even close to this giant income gap.
What a bunch of horse dung, people in general want to be employed and earning a wage. Unemployment insurance injects money into the economy... people receiving benefits spend it immediately.
Read more @: AP survey: US income gap is holding back economy
No surprise here. Seems that this trickle down economic theory isnt working at all, also not a surprise.
The government has killed a lot of jobs over the past few years.
Obamascare is going to kill more.
Care to explain how the "government killed jobs"? Notice that how none of the economists in this survey stated your position..
So everything about a sensitive issue when it comes to the environment? News flash take a look at this graph..The drilling moratoriam, the XL pipeline, closing Federal land to drilling, closing coal mines, closing power plants...
Yes all economists who dont agree with you are "libbos" :roll:They're probably a buncha Libbos who are pushing wealth redistribution.
government work programs, SNAP, not to mention the minimum wage was a lot more.. Care to elaborate?
Sure.
EITC used to be $400 and now it can be $5k. The Child Tax Credit used to be $400 and now it's $1k. Those two credits alone account for $90 Billion dollars in transfer payments. Food stamps started out as a program where people bought their own food stamps at a 50% discount (for $10 you would get $20 in food stamps). In the late 70's it turned into a direct benefit and it has been expanded several times since.
Discussion of minimum wage is only relevant to the extent that years ago minimum wage jobs were considered to be "entry level" jobs that people weren't expected to stay in but now with all the additional subsidies that minimum wage workers are eligible for it has become a career choice for millions of Americans who lack the ambition to better themselves economically.
So the argument is that the government assistance killed worker productivity?
At the low end of the income scale? Yes.
What you have now as opposed to 30 years ago is a stagnant low income demographic while middle and high income individuals have become more productive and, thus, are more highly compensated.
Read more @: AP survey: US income gap is holding back economy
No surprise here. Seems that this trickle down economic theory isnt working at all, also not a surprise.
Read more @: AP survey: US income gap is holding back economy
No surprise here. Seems that this trickle down economic theory isnt working at all, also not a surprise.
Then why is the middle class disappearing? They certainly are not joining the upper class...
Well how did ofailure care impact the rich? How did it impact the middle class? Maybe you should look into the mirror instead of throwing stones.
Then why is the middle class disappearing? They certainly are not joining the upper class...
Because it's getting to the point where not bothering to be "middle class" is a practical option for a lot of people. We're seeing more and more people who are choosing to avoid the whole "career ladder" thing and simply hang out on the bottom few rungs where there is little responsibility, little risk and enough subsidy to keep life liveable. The really scary part of that is those people aren't saving for retirement so they are only going to become more reliant on subsidies as time goes by.
Then wouldnt productivity go down or bottom out? The opposite is true. Productivity is increasing.
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