Tuesday, November 03, 2015

The disappearing middle class is threatening major retailers

Business Insider reports The disappearing middle class is threatening major retailers “‘While overall consumer confidence is trending up, lower income consumers continue to be fragile as income and wage growth has been minimal,’ he said. ‘Higher income and more confident consumers are driving premium growth, while cost-conscious consumers are driving the value segment.’”

This is what happens when the middle class is destroyed. Hershey is having difficulties because the 1% buy better stuff and the increasing poor 99% are buying cheaper stuff (and it’s not like Hershey’s is particularly expensive). It’s true, it’s not a zero-sum game, but when all the gains go the top 1% over the last 40 years, it means the economy suffers because consumers can buy less.

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