So many middle and low class households are always on the edge of collapse since wages have largely stagnated during the last two decades, so when you get something like a spike in gasoline prices, as has occurred in the past year, that puts them closer to going over the edge. And so many people have tapped into the equity of their homes to pay for vacations,kid's college, new cars etc. over the years, that many may have reached the end of that source. Student loan debt has also mushroomed so much that it is really blocking many millennials and next gens from buying homes, cars, and going on expensive vacations. Plus their parents that financed those expensive educations are often going into their retirement years with little equity remaining. It all catches up over time. The economy may be great for the top 10%. They've received the bulk of the government help. But, as we've seen before, "Trickle Down Economics" is a very flawed concept. It just doesn't work for the masses....and as you say, the overseas economy, especially South America, is precarious in a number of cases.