Wal-Mart and more

[Dan M]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: brin-l-bounces at mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-bounces at mccmedia.com] On
> Behalf Of Warren Ockrassa
> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 6:23 PM
> To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion
> Subject: Re: Wal-Mart and more
> 
> On Feb 18, 2008, at 6:42 PM, dsummersminet at comcast.net wrote:
> 
> > But, historically, the extra money the first half has is spent on
> > things
> > that employ the second half.  That is _the_ process that created an
> > American middle class out of dirt poor farmers who could barely feed
> > their
> > families.
> 
> Okay ... so where's the middle class gone to, then?

It's still there, but whether the middle class has noticeably improved its
standing over the last 30 years is a argument based on subtle
interpretations of the inflation index.  The subtle nature of the argument
is based on a number of things:

One discussion is at:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3765/is_n3_v18/ai_18824582/pg_2

But, even taking that index at face value, every income group, from the
bottom quintile to the top quintile has improved.  The top has improved a
whole lot more, but the middle class has not gone away.  The distance
between the top and the middle has increased, but that's separate issue.

I remember the story of the Great Depression from my parents, and have seen
statistical information on the effective income of the median American (the
guy/gal in the middle since then).  It was far below the present poverty
line. 

Things have changed tremendously since the US was the only effective
manufacturing power, back in the '60s.  The rest of the world is catching
up, many times by us buying cheaper things from China and India, for
example, than far more expensive things from the US.  

But, given that, and even though there is increased skewing in the income
distribution curve, the folks with family incomes in the 30%-70% of median
income range still form a local maximum...which can rightfully be called the
middle class.

Dan M.