US Discretionary spending is becoming a luxury for the wealthy, and so is optimism
Although the world marvels at “unsinkable” US consumers, a growing number are priced out of homes and falling behind on credit-card debt.
The bottom 40 per cent by income now account for 20 per cent of all spending while the richest 20 per cent account for 40 per cent.
Discretionary spending is becoming a luxury for the wealthy, and so is optimism.
This decade, booming financial markets added $51tn to US wealth and while millennials did especially well, virtually all their gains went to rich millennials.
To a widening wealth gap between the young and old, add this new source of division and anger within the younger generation.
Normally booms are financed by rising debt in the private sector.
The government ramps up its borrowing only later, to help dampen the shock after the boom goes bust.
This time, government leads the way
Ruchir Sharma FT 4 November 2024
The writer is chair of Rockefeller International. His latest book is ‘What Went Wrong With Capitalism’
https://www.ft.com/content/8af2ad3b-dca0-4add-bbc8-55fc28184f34
Ruchir Sharma What Went Wrong with Capitalism
https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2024/06/ruchir-sharma-what-went-wrong-with.html
First-time home buyers’ share of home sales hits 43-year low
The share of first-time home buyers during that period fell to 24% of all buyers, from 32% the year before.
The figure is now at the lowest point since the NAR began collecting the data in 1981.
Prior to the 2008 subprime-mortgage crisis, the share of first-time buyers was historically around 40%.
The median price of an existing home in September was $404,500, up 3% from the same period a year earlier
MarketWatch 4 November 2024
USA: The Haves and Have-Nots
Wall Street Journal 30 July 2024
https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2024/07/usa-haves-and-have-nots.html
Tillbaka till WoS 4 November 2024
https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2024/11/wos-4-november-2024.html
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