The gap is closing between the rich and the middle class, correlating with a narrowing gap between federally backed and privately funded loans. It’s not the middle class going up, but the wealthy coming down.
Just as the “Cash For Clunkers” program closes, Rolls Royce rolls out its economy model, the Ghost of the Phantom. At two-thirds the flagship cost, you can have the iconic grill and the hand-crafted bull-calf interior, but downsized to a steel shell instead of aluminum, and boasting BMW electronics.
Middle income Americans are still driving the same cars they were 30 years ago, though the more fuel efficient models. But for those in the top 1% of wealth in 2007 (representing 23.5% of personal wealth in the US), the long-reaching ramifications of the mortgage crisis have affected their ability to inflate their income. This year’s income is a ghost of what they once made.
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