Many experts are beginning to worry about whether or not economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will further create a division between those under the poverty line and the top 1%. Primarily, economist are worried about a "K-shaped" recovery which would entail growth, but split sharply between industries and economic groups. As the stock market surged in March and see new heights, GDP plunged at its most ever at an annualized rate. Furthermore, something else to not is that 52% of stocks and mutual funds in the market right now are owned by America's top 1%. When examining what stocks have rose during this pandemic, it has been mostly tech companies. These dominating stocks help paint a picture of how our economy is shifting and leaving those behind with less access to the technology that will help shape our recovery.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/04/worries-grow-over-a-k-shaped-economic-recovery-that-favors-the-wealthy.html
4 comments:
I think there to some degree this is very possible and is perhaps the reality. However, when it comes to the stock market I think most things at the moment are being overvalued due to the money the government has put into the economy in the past few months. However, In my opinion, even if a vaccine appears soon we will see a great fall in stock prices post elections and there will no longer be an overvalued stock market. Thus, those businesses are going to suffer majorly and the wealthy owners and workers will suffer major financial hits which will prove that this pandemic harmed everyone and not just the poor. Even when we look at some international tech companies for example in the electric car sector their stocks have been booming these past two months even though they earnt even mature companies who lack proper production. A lot of changes will come to light soon in my opinion.
I want to add here what Abdullah said, I believe that the recession for the rich is over, however, the working class is far behind recovery. It is because as we see that the stock market and home values are hovering near a record high levels, while jobs remain scarce for those earning less than $20 an hour, as recessions always hit lower-wage workers the hardest, and to that, I believe that the wealthy have mostly recovered.
I do believe the pandemic create a division between income groups. The people under the poverty line are struggling to find jobs and keep up with their bills while the more wealthy have more money to cover those types of expenses without much worry. The increasing prices in groceries definitely do not help the less fortunate either because their money can't go as far. It is crucial to get this virus under control to get businesses back up and running like normal. People will get more hours at work and more jobs will become available in general.
I agree that the gap between income groups will definitely be larger after the economic recovery from COVID than it was before. When you look at billionaires like Bezos increasing their wealth while lower income groups are struggling to get by it is obvious to see how the recovery from covid will benefit the wealthy more than those from lower-income groups.
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