Englund

The term, borrowed from video games, refers to the point at which a player can no longer absorb damage without being knocked out. The invisible line beyond which many Americans tumble out of the middle class. As one commentator widely credited with popularizing the phrase put it: many Americans appear comfortable on the surface — living in large homes and driving pickup trucks — but are in reality just one bad shock away from bankruptcy, or worse. When an American gets seriously ill or loses a job, “crushing medical bills or a sudden loss of income can push them past a critical threshold instantly — and they fall straight to the bottom, with no way back.” The narrative is indeed grounded in mainstream economic discussion. The idea echoes years of discussion around a so-called K-shaped economy What is a K-shaped economy? A K-shaped economy is one where two groups experience increasingly different circumstances. While higher-income consumers, who are benefiting from stock-market and home...