contrast that with reality:
https://ssti.org/blog/large-percentage-americans-report-they’re-struggling-make-ends-meet (May 2023)
Almost 40% of American adults report they struggle to make ends meet each month, an increase from 34.4% in 2022 and 26.7% in 2021.
https://usafacts.org/data-projects/housing-costs (May 2023)
50% of renters and 21% of homeowners spend ≥ 30% of their income on housing, while 25% of renters and 9% of homeowners spend ≥ 50% of their income on housing.
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/average-monthly-expenses/ (Sep 2023)
The average US household spends 29% of their income on housing, 15% on transport, 11% on food, 11% on insurance and pensions, 7% on healthcare, and 2% of education
That adds up to around 76% of income spent on necessities.
In June 2023, 61% of U.S. consumers lived paycheck to paycheck, unchanged from June 2022 — as is the share of those struggling to pay bills (at 21%)
You might think GDP doesn’t reflect the living standards of the people, that is true, but it matters a lot to the stock market. When GDP goes up (as it does currently), the stock market line goes up.
America is a hyper-financialized country. It has gone so far beyond the industrial capitalism of the mid-20th century, that all that matters now is real estate, stocks and bonds.
For the top 10% who own property, stocks and bonds, Bidenomics is working real well for them. For the rest of the country, student debt repayment and the interest rate hikes are squeezing wealth out of their hands and transferring them to the hands of the top 10%.