According to JP Morgan cost of living survey, their is a growing divide between how high-income and low-income earners in America perceive the economy. High-income earners are far more optimistic about the economic conditions, while lower-income workers are definitely less confident. The data from JP Morgan's survey suggest that we're in a "K-shape" economy, which is an economy where different groups experience very different outcomes. This article also did a great job of highlighting a lot of statistics to back up its experience.
According to the survey, high-income earners had a confidence level of 6.2 on a scale of 1-10, while the low income workers had a average confidence level of 4.4. Along with this statistic 6 out of 10 high-income consumers said that paying bills have been easier to cover while 30% of lower income earners have said so showing a 30% gap in-between. This survey raises the question on what we could do to make life easier on these lower-income earners. With that being said with helping theme it requires a mix of short-term relief and long term changes that can make the economy more sustainable as well.
Mitchell, is this unusual for a 'capitalist' economy such as the United States? This seems fairly typical, do you know if the disparity has grown over that past few years?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Trip on this as this seems typical and I would imagine there were other periods of time when the disparity was large. I wonder if the politicization of the economy has anything to do with this...
ReplyDeleteIt's eye opening to see how differently people are experiencing the same economy. I think closing the gap will require a long-term process.
ReplyDeleteGood article. It is evident that the country continues to grow apar,t and I believe some of this division may be created by the "k-shape" that is going on now. I'm curious to see the next steps in solving this gap.
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