Economist: Poor, Middle-Class People Not Exactly Pulling Their Weight When It Comes To Spending

There's an old saying that goes "Poors- what are they good for? [sing this part] Absolutely nothin'!" Slightly clichéd though not necessarily untrue. Take the economy. Are the poor and middle class, many without jobs and/or disposable income, doing their part to stimulate the damn thing? No, not really. As always, the rich people have to do everything around here.

Rich shoppers are driving an increase in consumer spending, bolstering a recovery that masks reluctance among less affluent Americans to join in. Sales are up at Tiffany & Co. and Coach Inc., buoyed by demand for $6,000 diamond pendants and $1,200 leather handbags as a stock-market surge pads the wallets of the wealthy. At the other end of the economic spectrum, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest discount retailer, reports “everyday Americans” are living paycheck to paycheck as they await an improvement in job prospects.

“The heavy lifting is being done by the upper-income households,” said Michael Feroli, a former Federal Reserve economist who is now chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. “They’re the ones benefiting the most from the stock market rally, and they’re spending.”

The Rich Go Spend But With Little Help From The Middle Class [Bloomberg via Daily Intel]