The Disappearing American Middle Class

[Nbadan]

Retail, auto sales, job numbers suggest tougher times
The recent spate of sales figures and job numbers underscore an emerging picture for the economy: the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening amid a draining of the middle-income ranks.

"The longer-term pattern is that the rich are getting richer," said Standard & Poor's Chief Economist David Wyss. "It's not so much that the poor are getting poorer, but there's a hollowing out of the middle class."

As fortunes improve for certain sectors of the population, so too do their tastes for autos, apparel and home furnishings to leisure and hospitality choices, leading to a "buying up" to better and higher-priced merchandise and experiences.

At the same time, the higher prices at the gas pump and for home energy bills are pinching the monthly budgets of lower-end consumers -- and ultimately showing up in receipts at the retailers who cater to them.


CBS Market Watch

Link

According to the FREE TRADERS, your losses are someone else's gains! It ALL BALANCES OUT! So cheer up. Somewhere in China, someone is making more money!

Sour grapes.

It's a Global Economy! Sure, some Americans will be hurt for 5 or 6 generations. Sure, most American parents can no longer promise their children a better life, but look how much better the RICH folks and the poor in China and India are doing.

You'll feel much better as soon as you just accept the fact that you are a piece of , and nobody in the Republican Party or the Democratic Party is going to do ANYTHING to help you!

There now. Don't you feel better. Don't forget to send your donations to the GOP/DNC.

[Clandestino]

who gives a ...if you don't help yourself then others shouldn't be taxed just bc you are too lazy to work hard and make more of your situation...

[Hook Dem]

I have never based my wants and needs on what someone else has or doesn't have. I will continue to concentrate on my own personal needs and never try to keep up with the Jones's. Simple! Jealousy is an evil tool.

[smeagol]

It's so funny to see people in America crying about the middle class disappearing, and how the gap between the rich and the poor is widening.

Go to Latin America, for Christ's sake! Then you will see what poverty is all about.

Poor people in this country own homes, can buy cars, have meals in their plates every night.

Those are luxuries half the people in LatAm only dream about.

It's true, the gap between haves and have-nots in America is widening. Big deal!

Again, most of the have-nots in America don't have it that bad.

And if they don't like it here, they can take all their dollars and look for better horizons in some place called Argentina, where the US dollar is a strong currency. Just the same as your British and Irish forefathers did when they were having a tough time in Europe in the XIX century.

Emigrate, I say! Look for greener pastures.

Either the have-nots have to work hard to becomes "haves", emigrate, or STFU!

[Hook Dem]

Well said Smeagol.