'The consumer isn't overleveraged -- the middle class is'

Tom Petruno

The well-heeled might be able to save the U.S. economy from a long period of dismally weak consumer spending -- if only we don’t jack up their taxes.

That’s one conclusion to draw from a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch report this week, "The Myth of the Overlevered Consumer."

The report hammers home what you might already suspect: The consumer debt problem in the economy really is a debt problem for the middle class. The need to work off a chunk of that debt will sap middle-class families’ spending power for perhaps years to come.

By contrast, the upper 10% of income earners face a much smaller debt burden relative to income and net worth. Those people should have ample spending power to help fuel an economic recovery.

Using 2007 data from the Federal Reserve, BofA Merrill defines the middle class as people in the 40%-to-90% income percentiles. It defines lower-income folks as those in the zero to 40% income percentiles, and the wealthy as those in the top 10%.

'The consumer isn't overleveraged -- the middle class is' | Money & Company | Los Angeles Times

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