The Key to Understanding "Recession" and "Recovery": The Wealth Pyramid

charles hugh smith-The Key to Understanding "Recession" and "Recovery": The Wealth Pyramid: "This goes a long way to explaining how 'consumer spending' can be 'recovering' even as the incomes of the bottom 80% stagnate or fall. The top 5% of Americans by income are responsible for 37% of all consumer spending-- about the same as the entire bottom 80% by income (39.5%).

David Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Reagan, recently noted in an editorial that the top 1% of Americans received two-thirds of the gain in national income from 2002 to 2006."