Trump has made our K-shaped economy even more unequal 4 Jun 2026 Steven Greenhouse
While wealthy Americans hail a booming stock market, the rest of us worry about rising inflation and people struggling to make ends meet
In case you’re not familiar with the concept of the K-shaped economy, it’s an important idea that captures a lot about Trump’s America. Wealthy Americans are represented by the line of the K that angles sharply upward to the right, while the line of the K that dips downward represents non-rich Americans and the difficulties they face.
The economy’s K-shape has been growing worse in recent months, in large part because of Donald Trump’s policies. The wealthy people’s line is climbing further upward, while the line for the non-wealthy – the vast majority of Americans – has fallen further.
Viewed another way, the K-shaped economy is all about income and wealth inequality, and those are growing palpably worse under Trump.
For the country’s wealthy, things are going gangbusters as the S&P 500 and other stock indices keep hitting record highs, notwithstanding Trump’s costly, unsuccessful war against Iran. The richest 10% of Americans own 93% of all stock held by US households, and that means millions of average Americans aren’t feeling Wall Street’s rise – although they’re very much feeling inflation’s rise as it has climbed to nearly 4%, as hourly earnings fail to keep up with rising prices and as gas prices have jumped about 50% since Trump began bombing Iran. What’s more, workers’ hourly pay has risen by a mere 3% since 2019 (after adjusting for inflation), while corporate profits have jumped by 50%.
It’s a tale of two Americas. When some people look at the economy, they see a booming stock market, low unemployment, consumer spending chugging along and friends jetting off to overseas vacations. But those on the bottom end of the K see something very different: rising inflation, a sluggish job market, sky-high gas prices, problems with affordability and friends struggling to make ends meet. One big reason that consumer spending hasn’t tanked is that the richest, we’re-doing-just-fine 10% of Americans account for nearly half of all consumer spending.
The economy’s K shape is visible in many places. Airlines are adding more business class seats as the wealthy clamor for those higher-priced spots. But Spirit, the low-price airline that many non-rich Americans relied on, has gone belly up. Sales of private jets and fancy yachts have soared even as the Federal Reserve says that more Americans are going hungry than during the pandemic. The McDonald’s CEO complained recently of a “two-tier economy”, with sales to lower-income Americans declining even as McD’s added premium, higher-end products, like the Big Arch burger, which costs between $7.50 and $13, depending on the location. While wealthy Americans fly to Greece and safaris in Africa, many average Americans are so squeezed by $4.26-a-gallon gas that they’re cutting back on travel and piling on record amounts of debt. US consumers have shelled out $52bn extra for gas due to the price increases, and as with Trump’s tariffs, soaring gas prices have squeezed non-rich Americans far more than wealthy ones. Americans in the bottom quarter by income (earning under $40,000 a year) spend approximately 4% of their income on average for gas, while households in the top fourth (earning $100,000 or more) spend less than 1%.
With the Iran war pushing up inflation and gas prices, most presidents would seek to show empathy by proclaiming: “I feel your pain.” But Trump did precisely the opposite, telling reporters that he doesn’t care about the economic pain Americans are feeling. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” Trump said, adding that he only cares about Iran not having a nuclear weapon. Just as Trump has belittled concerns about affordability by saying those concerns are a hoax and con job, he callously belittled Americans’ concerns about soaring gas prices. “This is peanuts,” he said about high gas prices.
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While wealthy Americans hail a booming stock market, the rest of us worry about rising inflation and people struggling to make ends meet
The economy’s K-shape has been growing worse in recent months, in large part because of Donald Trump’s policies. The wealthy people’s line is climbing further upward, while the line for the non-wealthy – the vast majority of Americans – has fallen further.
Viewed another way, the K-shaped economy is all about income and wealth inequality, and those are growing palpably worse under Trump.
For the country’s wealthy, things are going gangbusters as the S&P 500 and other stock indices keep hitting record highs, notwithstanding Trump’s costly, unsuccessful war against Iran. The richest 10% of Americans own 93% of all stock held by US households, and that means millions of average Americans aren’t feeling Wall Street’s rise – although they’re very much feeling inflation’s rise as it has climbed to nearly 4%, as hourly earnings fail to keep up with rising prices and as gas prices have jumped about 50% since Trump began bombing Iran. What’s more, workers’ hourly pay has risen by a mere 3% since 2019 (after adjusting for inflation), while corporate profits have jumped by 50%.
The economy’s K shape is visible in many places. Airlines are adding more business class seats as the wealthy clamor for those higher-priced spots. But Spirit, the low-price airline that many non-rich Americans relied on, has gone belly up. Sales of private jets and fancy yachts have soared even as the Federal Reserve says that more Americans are going hungry than during the pandemic. The McDonald’s CEO complained recently of a “two-tier economy”, with sales to lower-income Americans declining even as McD’s added premium, higher-end products, like the Big Arch burger, which costs between $7.50 and $13, depending on the location. While wealthy Americans fly to Greece and safaris in Africa, many average Americans are so squeezed by $4.26-a-gallon gas that they’re cutting back on travel and piling on record amounts of debt. US consumers have shelled out $52bn extra for gas due to the price increases, and as with Trump’s tariffs, soaring gas prices have squeezed non-rich Americans far more than wealthy ones. Americans in the bottom quarter by income (earning under $40,000 a year) spend approximately 4% of their income on average for gas, while households in the top fourth (earning $100,000 or more) spend less than 1%.
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