The top 10% of earners—households making about $250,000 a year or more—are splurging on everything from vacations to designer handbags, buoyed by big gains in stocks, real estate and other assets.
Those consumers now account for 49.7% of all spending, a record in data going back to 1989, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics. Three decades ago, they accounted for about 36%.
The top-level post uses a gift link. When it runs out, there is an archived copy of the article.
The average worker has no choice but to funnel their money up the wealth chain through rent and mortgages. That’s the bulk of it.
Wrong. We can all choose to live and appreciate more modest lives.
I haven’t eaten at a restaurant or bought a video game in years, for example. If more people appreciated what they have instead of always wanting more, these problems would be solved overnight.
The housing market is complete bullshit, but workers also have themselves to blame for accepting renting as normal. We need to discourage renting and encourage ownership. Unfortunately, in order to do that people need to be willing to live more modest lifestyles outside of major cities. Supply and demand doesn’t go away just because we want it to.
Wealthiest nation in the world (by a large margin if I may add), regular people are struggling to get by and your solution is “just be more frugal”? I’d imagine if you’re the wealthiest nation in the world you can afford some luxuries but I guess not according to you. Also, if you’re so wealthy where does all that wealth go?
Its not the workers who are to blame. Its the folks who aspires to live on “passive income” who used housing as a vehicle to steal wealth from the younger generations. I finished high school during the GFC and everything about the housing market has been fucked since then.
No, workers absolutely bear some of the blame. They choose to go along with consumerism and attack anyone who goes against it.
Mate, I have an electrical engineering degree and work for a big chip design company. Wages have stagnated to the point where I can never afford afford to buy a house, and rent eats nearly half my wages. I live a modest life and the only time I travelled was when I was working full time in Europe. Never been on a holiday. There’s literally nothing I could have done to fix that except find a squat to live, or put up with share houses into my thirties. No family I can live with. Its out of many peoples control. The house I rent is valued at 1.2 million in Melbourne. It was 370k 15 years ago.
A house where? In a suburb for $250,000+? You know you can buy houses for <$100k, right? Some people’s cars cost more than my house, but I don’t need more.
Yeah, you’re part of the problem. You need to be willing a more modest lifestyle. Ask yourself this, if you need more, how do others survive with significantly less? They probably don’t live in major cities, for one. If you think you’re entitled to live in a major city, then you’re part of the problem.
You are commenting from an American perspective. There are no houses in Australian capital cities for less than 100k. And there are no job opportunities for many professions outside the capital cities.
Is there any room for ya’ll to spread out and build more?
That’s not how jobs work, mi amigo. The more people that live in a given area, the more jobs will be available. You might not get paid as much, but to make the argument that there’s no work or that your job can’t be done remotely is false.
Whatever mate. You don’t know a fucking thing about the job market and housing market in Australia. Get fucked seppo.
Right. Anything to avoid admitting you have some control over your situation.
Ah yes. The American libertarian position. If you find an affordable rental in Australia during a housing crisis let me know.