That is more of an US thing as many other nations have more than just left and right, more than just two political parties. But yeah, I kind of agree that people generalize and polarize things too much. You either with me or against me :P

I think that the problem that is illuminated by that study, has deep roots and is one that would need many things to be changed in order to get it fixed. US, China, Russia and other huge nations are so big that its no wonder they have a lot of problems, its not easy to steer nations of that size. Its much easier to do things right in a smaller scale, in a smaller country like Norway or Denmark.

They are imitating our federal government. Get a Chinese loan, problem solved. Or don’t spend more then you earn.... crazy concept in 2018, I know.

Seems like you want Kudos for it... so congrats.

Unfortunately thats very correctly in todays politics. Barely anyone cares about the truth or about what is a benefit for 90%+ of the polulation. Most politicians just care about winning an election or being told they are correct. They just care for themselves and their own personal success (= career) and just start pretending like they care for the people of their county 4 weeks before elections. I cant speek for US politics as I have no Idea about it, but here in germany its basically like that.

Before elections: Vote for me and everyone will get ...

After elections: Sorry guys, I didnt meant it like that ... I actually was thinking about ... (blah...blah...blah... without any content which makes any sense or has any clear statement)

When you see those statistics that say that the top three billionaires have as much money as the bottom 50% of Americans, this is why. The bottom 40% have nothing once you account for debt, and most are just going further into debt, and not for tvs or electronics, but for like, general living expenses, especially healthcare. So the 40-50% decile is made up of people with positive wealth, but after subtracting the negative wealth of the bottom 40%, that last 10% is not going to be more than the insane wealth of those top three. The same goes for income. Too many people are needing to go into debt just to survive, especially healthcare, so after subtracting expenses, the bottom 50% don't even make as much combined as the top three individuals. It's nuts. All the philanthropy in the world is not worth such absurd inequality. Bezos, Gates, and Buffet in no way earned that wealth. They may have earned some of it, but not that much. The fact that they and others have that much and the bottom half has so little is just a policy failure on the part of the United States. Given that most of our economy is based almost entirely on spending that most consumers won't be able to keep up, we're headed for a crash. And since we lack the tools to bail out the people with all the needless military deficit spending and besides all that the people in power lack the political will to bail out the people, choosing to bail out corporations instead, that crash may turn into a total collapse.

Americans are hopeless. They dont have a government that works for them and laws are constantly being passed to favor the 1% only while keeping the rest of the country damn near inhospitable economically.

I wasn't criticizing opinions, I was criticizing the overabundance of rhetoric.  The difference seems pretty damn obvious.

Regardless, I did have the intention of discussing this but then I realized it would probably be futile mixed in with the "it's your side's fault" comments.  The person who says "it's both side's fault" might as well be shouting into a hurricane.  Even more futile is the idea that the situation is going to be addressed seriously.  Big money interests run the government and until it benefits them to change the way the economy operates--or it crashes and burns with them inside--researchers can talk about this until they are blue in the face.   The banks are the overlords Genghis Khan dreamed of being.

The drive for short-term profit over long-term stability in the financial sector is overwhelming the average citizen.  The highest sources of debt are growing much faster than median income.  Student loans and medical bills are out of control.  Rising interest rates on top of heavy debt have turned it into a crushing burden that people can't claw their way out of.  

Of course, it's also true that the average person is absolutely terrible at managing their finances.  They're being offered loans and credit cards that they shouldn't be offered and taking them without realizing the consequences.  At my last job, I had a few entry-position people ($8.75 an hour) teasing me for driving an old car (2005) because they had new Camaros and full-size pickup trucks.  Unnecessary purchases are the biggest source of credit card debt and the average household pays an obscene amount each year just in interest.  

So, a lot needs to change, from the lending infrastructure to the way people use their income.  The systems that are causing the most ridiculous debt, like college loans and medical billing, obviously need to be overhauled.  Everyone in the world can see that what we have now is killing us in more ways than one.  There shouldn't be a politician in Washington who isn't working on finding a real and meaningful solution.  The affordability of housing is also becoming a serious problem.  At the very least, the cost of living should not consistently gain on pay rate increases. 

This is a multifaceted problem.  The last thing we need are people pointing fingers and making excuses.

Not kudos, just clarifying.

Trickle down economics never seems to works..... no idea why its taught in bussiness schools.
It doesnt seem to be supported by reality.

Rather giveing tax cuts to the poorest usually have huge effects though, those people that before hand couldnt afford to buy things then can = huge spending boom = higher production = more jobs.

You do understand that alot of people are makeing less than they need to survive right?

"or dont spend more than you earn"

Sounds easy right? but what if you cant find any place cheaper to live? or spend less on food?
Should they become homeless? and just stop eating?

Like thats what its like for the poorest, they have no choice but to live off loans, as these studies suggest.
But rather than help the poor, lets give tax breaks to the top 1% richest in the country right? or spend $700 bn on military?