TIL: consumer spending trend in the US and the media

Three decades ago, the entire middle 40% held a greater share of wealth than the top 1%. Today the reverse is true, with Moody’s Analytics recently estimating that the top 10% of US households now make up about half of all spending.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-01-14/america-s-a-la-carte-economy-is-making-everyone-feel-poorer

It might be that this trend contributes to the changes in media consumption patterns. The traditional media makes money through ads, while influencers are mostly paid by their fan base through subscriptions. Because the purchasing power is now concentrated at the top, advertisers prefer to go after the more affluent and more sane audience, i.e. the top 20%, who consume quality content on the so-called mainstream media. Those people are likely to qualify as "the elite" and almost inevitably, the mainstream media caters to them. By contrast, influencers* cater to the less educated who prefer conspiracy theories and other anti-establishment infogarbage that raises their self esteem, by keeping them inside particular bias-reinforcing, most often right-wing bubbles.

Moreover, the disaggregation of the traditional porn media probably plays a role when it comes to information consumption by young men. That is, before, printed porn magazines, e.g. Playboy, provided a combination of porn images and mainstream articles, including on politics, men's health, etc. Now, porn is served separately by specialized services such as Only Fans and others. The new generation of young men, especially those who are less educated, are "liberated" from reading mainstream and flock to anti-establishment influencers who are free to peddle garbage du jour.

* link via rsokolov

Free market my foot

One needs to be an idiot to believe that Trump's run at Greenland is driven by national security, rather than the good old greed for their natural resources.

Here's a guide on how businesses (of course only those who have direct access to him) can buy influence with Trump. https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-ceo-playbook-trump-second-term

Corporate America is entering the second year of Donald Trump’s second term with a new, hard-won understanding: The president’s personal interventions can shape business as profoundly as any economic force.

5. Perhaps above all, the author of The Art of the Deal sees every interaction as a transaction. Urban, of BGR, cites a Beltway adage: “The first rule of horse trading is to have a horse.”

In Trump’s Washington, those transactions often hinge on what a company can offer—or surrender—to stay in the administration’s good graces.

This is textbook government corruption.