Manny Mondays: Merry "Bifurcated" Christmas

Morning from snowed in Minneapolis! So why does this market and economic recovery feel even less "real" to many people than the last one? Well, for starters, take a look at who's benefiting the most from this so-called "recovery". It's largely not the middle and lower classes, which make up most of the country's population. No wonder why many people are in such a surly mood right now, even in the face of a surging market and apparent economic "recovery", and in some cases, an even worse mood than the last "recovery" from '03 - '08 that left a lot of them behind then as well.

My premise has long been that we are in the midst of an extremely "bifurcated recovery" and economy where we find the "haves" doing very well again, and even better than ever in many cases, while those in the middle and below largely continue to struggle with stagnant (or no/low) wages. Well, it looks like others are starting to come around to this point of view as well. Welcome to the party, folks. In Sunday's Washington Post, Yian Mui describes how this very thing that I (and others) have theorized is playing out with a vengeance: Economic recovery leaving some behind this Christmas.

This holiday season, those two worlds have been thrown into stark relief: At Tiffany's, executives report that sales of their most expensive merchandise have grown by double digits. At Wal-Mart, executives point to shoppers flooding the stores at midnight every two weeks to buy baby formula the minute their unemployment checks hit their accounts. Neiman Marcus brought back $1.5 million fantasy gifts in its annual Christmas Wish Book. Family Dollar is making more room on its shelves for staples like groceries, the one category its customers reliably shop.

"When you start to line up all the pieces, you see a story that starts to emerge," said James Russo, vice president of global consumer insights for The Nielsen Co. "You kind of see this polarized Christmas."

It seems that things are just downright peachy again in the upper strata of our country's wealth continuum, as the wealthy, after a brief bout with what's known as a conscience, no longer feel guilty about flaunting their wealth in every way possible:

The divide is evident in retailers' sales. Sales at luxury stores open at least a year - a key measure of retail health - plunged by a monthly average of 9 percent last year, only to skyrocket 7 percent so far this year, according to industry analysis. Discount stores eked out a 0.5 percent gain a year ago and are up just 2.6 percent this year.

So putting this into context with the recent tax cut "compromise" reached by the Obama administration, how ludicrous (and immoral, if you ask me) do the arguments look now about extending tax cuts for the very people who seem to be doing better than ever?