Rich Get Richer

Here is a handy dandy chart showing some disparity in the American economy. The ML index is an index of wealthy spending. The MSCI is all consumer spending. Guess who's spending more?


According to Barry Ritholtz's post, some between 37% and 70% of consumer spending comes from the top 20% of wage earners. While that's a fairly large range, even at the lower end you can clearly see who's propping up consumer spending. We are, indeed, in a new gilded age. And the pundits wonder why people are pessimistic about the economy?