Do I have this right: Obama shouldn't get credit for saving the US economy

[progressoid]

50. "Recovery bypassed 90% of American families-who have gained 0 in terms of wealth/income"

76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck

Roughly three-quarters of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with little to no emergency savings, according to a survey released by Bankrate.com Monday.

Fewer than one in four Americans have enough money in their savings account to cover at least six months of expenses, enough to help cushion the blow of a job loss, medical emergency or some other unexpected event, according to the survey of 1,000 adults. Meanwhile, 50% of those surveyed have less than a three-month cushion and 27% had no savings at all.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/24/pf/emergency-savings/

Stock Market Surge Bypasses Most Americans, Poll Shows

More than three-quarters of Americans say the five-year bull market in U.S. stocks has had little or no effect on their financial well-being, according to a Bloomberg National Poll.

Seventy-seven percent of respondents dismissed the 176 percent rise in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) since its March 9, 2009 financial crisis low, according to the poll, taken March 7-10. Barely one in five -- 21 percent -- said the market’s gains have made them “feel more financially” secure.
...

The poll’s findings reflect the concentration of financial assets among better-off Americans. Only about half of Americans own stock, either directly or through retirement accounts, according to the Fed’s 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-12/stock-market-surge-bypasses-most-americans-poll-shows.html

Roughly 36 percent of working-age survey respondents said they have less than $1,000 in savings and personal retirement investments, and 60 percent reported having less than $25,000 saved. The numbers are similar among retirees surveyed: 58 percent have less than $25,000 on hand, and 29 percent have less than $1,000 saved.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/03/20/3416808/retirement-savings-survey/

So-called recovery bypassed 90% of American families-who have gained 0 in terms of wealth/income

Robert Reich



The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the most comprehensive source of data on the finances of American families, was released Thursday. Its findings are sobering. The so-called recovery has bypassed 90 percent of American families, who have gained nothing in terms of income or wealth; and the bottom 20 percent are worse off than when the recovery started. Only the rich have done better. Between 2010 and 2013, the most affluent 10 percent of families saw their incomes rise 10 percent, and their wealth increase 2 percent to an average of $3.3 million. (Those in the top 1 percent and top one-tenth of one percent did far better than this.)

Before you say “duh,” you should note that this is the first “recovery” on record that has shown this pattern. Although inequality has been widening for thirty years, the business cycle usually hid it when the economy was expanding, as in the late 1990s. The range of remedies many of us have been pushing for – a higher minimum wage, for example – are necessary but hardly sufficient. The entire economy must be reorganized in more fundamental ways. (I'll be suggesting some larger reforms in coming posts.) You agree, and, if so, what do you think are the biggest changes that are necessary?

https://www.facebook.com/RBReich?fref=nf