Summary of David Cay Johnston's Divided

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The choice between World A, where you earn $110,000 a year and everyone else earns $200,000, and World B, where you earn $100,000 and everyone else earns $85,000, is difficult for many Americans to decide.

#2 In the housing market, as in the automobile market, top earners have initiated a process that leads to increased expenditures on down the line, even those who have not risen in income.

#3 The family that overspends on housing at the cost of heavy debt, long working hours, financial anxiety, and a scarcity of family time is not just a familiar anecdote, but also a fair description of where middle-class America has been going.

#4 Americans are spending more because they have more money. But their spending has led others to spend more, including middle-income families. This is because the rich are spending more now simply because they have more money. But their spending has led others to spend more as well, including middle-income families.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822519305

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Insights on David Cay Johnston's Divided

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The choice between World A, where you earn $110,000 a year and everyone else earns $200,000, and World B, where you earn $100,000 and everyone else earns $85,000, is difficult for many Americans to decide.

#2

In the housing market, as in the automobile market, top earners have initiated a process that leads to increased expenditures on down the line, even those who have not risen in income.

#3

The family that overspends on housing at the cost of heavy debt, long working hours, financial anxiety, and a scarcity of family time is not just a familiar anecdote, but also a fair description of where middle-class America has been going.

#4

Americans are spending more because they have more money. But their spending has led others to spend more, including middle-income families. This is because the rich are spending more now simply because they have more money. But their spending has led others to spend more as well, including middle-income families.

#5

We have been slow to upgrade our municipal water supplies. The century-old pipes in many systems are cast-iron fittings joined by lead solder, which can leach toxic metals into the water. We have been reluctant to invest in cleaner air, and have slashed funding not only for services that benefit middle- and upper-income families, but also for low-overhead programs that make life more bearable for the poor.

#6

It is difficult to stop the cycle of spending when it is your own money. However, it is possible to start the cycle of thinking about how your actions affect others.

#7

The reelection of President Obama was like a Rorschach test, subject to many interpretations. In this election, each side debated issues that deeply worry me: the long malaise into which the economy seems to be settling, and the growing divide between the 1 percent and the rest.

#8

There are four main reasons inequality is hurting our economy: the middle class is too weak to