A couple of months ago, the Obama campaign unveiled its “Life of Julia,” a website detailing “how President Obama’s policies help one woman over her lifetime” … by showering her with the benefits of the entitlement state, from Head Start to student loans to Obamacare.
In response, the Weekly Standard has resurrected H.E.N.R.Y. — marketing slang, first used in Fortune in 2003, for High Earners who are Not Rich Yet.
Henrys run households with annual incomes between $100,000 and $250,000.
There are about 21 million of them.
Henrys make up the overwhelming majority of affluent consumers, who account for 40 percent of consumer spending — which in turn is 70 percent of economic activity.
Without the Henrys’ getting and spending, the U.S. economy would be much poorer.
One can find Henry and his family in the affluent suburbs and exurbs surrounding cities like Washington, D.C., New York, and Los Angeles, or in the counties of suburban Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Raleigh, and Philadelphia.
He owns his house. He plans to send his children to college. He shops at Target, Saks, Coach, Restoration Hardware, Banana Republic, and, on special occasions, Tiffany.
The Obama years have not been kind to Henry.
His economic fortunes have bobbed up and down.
He’s never been flush, but he’s never been broke, either.
So much to him seems dependent on forces outside his control — whether the Fed engages in another round of quantitative easing, whether the eurozone survives for another week.
Henry is the true swing voter in this Presidential election.
The Homa Files 