The U.S. economic recovery has been weak, unemployment rate has been stubbornly high, and income inequality has been surging. We know this.
But three charts from Gluskin Sheff strategist David Rosenberg's latest report show 1) the share of personal income from government transfers like welfare and social security and 2) the spike in "soup lines" made us gasp. Rosenberg writes:
"Government transfers to the personal sector now makes up nearly one-fifth of total household income. That is incredible. Even Lyndon Johnson, the architect of the Great Society, would blush at that statistic.
...The reason why nobody considers this to be a modern-day depression is because nobody can see the soup and bread lines that were so visible during the 1930s. That’s only because these days, you receive your bread and soup from Uncle Sam either electronically or in the mail."
Here's the chart from Gluskin Sheff that shows the shocking rise in transfer payments to personal income:
And this chart shows the surge in the number of food stamp participants:
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