AP survey: US income inequality slows growth; Fed unlikely to taper at meeting this week

FILE - In this Friday, March 29, 2013, file photo, a homeless man pushes a shopping cart full of his belongings across an intersection in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. The growing gap between the richest Americans and everyone else isn’t bad just for individuals, it’s hurting the U.S. economy says a majority of more than three dozen economists surveyed in December 2013 by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hon, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013, file photo, a destitute man sleeps on the sidewalk under a holiday window at Blanc de Chine, in New York The growing gap between the richest Americans and everyone else isn’t bad just for individuals it’s hurting the U.S. economy says a majority of more than three dozen economists surveyed in December 2013 by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) (The Associated Press)

WASHINGTON – The growing gap between the richest Americans and everyone else isn't bad just for individuals.

It's hurting the U.S. economy.

So says a majority of more than three dozen economists surveyed last week by The Associated Press. Their concerns tap into a debate that's intensified as middle-class pay has stagnated while wealthier households have thrived.

A key source of the economists' concern: Higher pay and stock market gains are flowing mainly to affluent Americans. Yet these households spend less of their money than do low- and middle-income consumers who make up most of the population.

Spending by wealthier Americans, given the weight of their dollars, does help drive the economy. But analysts say the economy would be better able to sustain its growth if the riches were more evenly dispersed.