CLASS WARFARE SCORECARD: Guess who's winning?

[Donnachaidh]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/mike-whitney/35296/class-warfare-scorecard-guess-whos-winning

This has gotta be a joke? According to a new report by the BEA, personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased by $69 billion (7 percent), while personal income rose by only $38 billion (3 percent) in February.

So consumers are back to their old ways again, spending more than they earn?

Er, not exactly. The truth is consumer spending is slowing down because food and energy are taking a bigger chunk out of the old paycheck. After factoring in inflation, personal consumption is up just 3 percent while real income fell to a measly 1 percent. So the numbers are a lot different than they look at first glance.

The reason all this matters, is because consumption is 70 percent of GDP, so if the consumer is on the ropes and getting pummeled by stagnant wages and inflation at the same time, then the economy is headed for the dumpster. Of course, a good portion of the blame for this mess goes to Ben Bernanke whose miracle QE2 elixir has kept the stock market bubbly while commodities and food prices have skyrocketed. That's the real source of the problem, an uneven, class-based policy that transfers wealth from the workerbees (you and me) to the high-rolling charlatans on Wall Street.

More at the link --

[ixion]

1. k/r

I really can't believe people are unrecc'ing this. :wtf:

[Earth_First]

2. Not us! n/t

[OHdem10]

3. An uneven class-based policy that transfers wealthfrom the

workerbees to the high-rolling charlatans on Wall Street.
This extends to policies and practices throughout.

We are in a Reverse Robinhood practice. Take from
Middle Class and Poor and give to the rich.

[pinkkillersheep]

4. Gotta love our consumer based economy.

Yup, no potential long-term issues with our economic plan! (sarcasm...)