SUDDENLY, WE NEED THE RICH?

Back on July 16th, the NY Times ran an article that praised the affluent - "The economic recovery has been helped in large part by the spending of the most affluent." and today, the AP chimes in:

As spending by wealthy weakens, so does economy
Aug 1 02:09 PM US/Eastern
By JEANNINE AVERSA
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Wealthy Americans aren't spending so freely anymore. And the rest of us are feeling the squeeze.

The question is whether the rich will cut back so much as to tip the economy back into recession—or if they will spend at least enough to sustain the recovery.

Think of the wealthy as the main engine of the economy: When they buy more, the economy hums. When they cut back, it sputters. The rest of us mainly go along for the ride.

UPDATE: William Gale in the WaPo has a nice push-back against this return of "trickle down economics."

UPDATE II: David Stockman, Reagan's OMB director, trashes GOP economic policies in the NYT.