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[–] 10 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

That's just ridiculous, unless you're including stuff like stock, real estate or other investments as "purchases".

There's only so much bread and milk and books and sofas and cars that a wealthy household needs to purchase, and sure they will outspent other households in terms of cost per item, but not nearly enough to offset the sheer difference in volume.

Tldr, bullshit.

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  • [+] 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 child)
  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago*

    Excellent site for backing up my claim, thanks you.

    Consumer spending, as measured by Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis], accounts for 68% of the GDP.

    Top 3 items:

    1. Housing (33.4% of budget): rent, mortgage interests, property taxes, water, electricity, internet, appliances, furniture.

    2. Transportation (17.0%), heavily influenced by commuting habits: cars, fuel.

    3. Food (12.9% of budget), includes groceries and food away from home (restaurants)

    4. Insurance, Pensions, & Healthcare (20.4% combined)

    5. "Discretionary", everything else: clothing, entertainment, education (!), ...

    That's a rather interesting breakdown, and a few items surprised me a lot. In any case, and more to the point I was replying, the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey gives this breakdown:

    • The Top 20% (Highest Income Quintile): Accounts for roughly 35% to 38% of total consumption.

    • The Middle 60% (Middle Class): Accounts for roughly 53% of spendingg

    • The Bottom 20% (Lowest Income Quintile): Accounts for roughly 9% of spending.

    It seems like this survey, since it's based on questionnaires, tends to underreport luxury goods, so in reality it might be skewed more towards the top 20% than what's presented there.

    Even if that's the case, surely it's nowhere near the point of "not being profitable to sell to normal people", as was said.

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