America is getting richer, but are you?
The U.S. economy might be growing, but it's leaving many of its citizens behind as gains disproportionately accrue at the top. Between 2001 and 2007, the median household's real net worth rose almost 20 percent. And then the financial crisis sent it into a nosedive. Last year, real household net worth was $81,200-less than in 1989. But from 1989 to 2013, the mean net worth of American households rose 60 percent to $534,600. Despite a modest recovery, fewer Americans own their own homes today than in 2007. The same goes for shares of stock or mutual funds (excluding retirement accounts).
America is not in decline--the economy grew at a 4.6% annualized rate in the second quarter--but an empowered minority at the top of American society is reaping most of the benefits of this resurgence. These are the households whose wealth has soared while the middle class has seen its net worth stagnate or decline.
What does this mean for a nation heading into a new election cycle? The midterms, and especially the 2016 presidential campaign, will have a major say in how America positions itself in the new geopolitical order. But voters are less and less inclined to support an ambitious foreign policy as growing income inequality persuades large numbers of Americans that they don't benefit from US engagement abroad.
Those voters will question the assumptions of policymakers that America should be energetically promoting its values in conflicts around the globe. That may be the role of a secure and prosperous America, but today's Americans feel anything but.
Photo by Chris Brown / Flickr.
This post was adapted from an earlier column in Politico.
Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group and global research professor at New York University. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Book Author /published Chilli South Africa, Passion of a Foodie /commissioned work Taste the World a at Heidemarie Vos
10 年We all know the rich don't pay taxes and Joe Public just needs to stop paying them until some demands are met.
I have to say something here...
10 年The annihilation of the middle class spells the destruction of democracy. It seems inexorable and inevitable. If the wealthy want to live behind a moat--but don't bet that they won't trade off freedom for comfort. The economic and sociological fissures appearing in the US and to a lesser extent in Canada, appear to have a life of their own, until the pendulum swings back to a more even economic keel. The wealthy and powerful always espouse their superiority and divine right to prosper and rule by self evident genetic and moral superiority. But, no worries! Because if something goes wrong there is always Joe Public, the anonymous loser, to bail them out.
retired
10 年Can we start to consider a system based on mutual responsility, fair shares. Perhaps producer co-ops, perhasp some model of a socialist society but without state ownership?,