22 August 2012

Shrinking Middle Class

Pew has a fascinating new report about the middle class.

The middle class is shrinking, and more are defecting into the lower income group than upper income. Globalization seems to be creating more income disparity and the percentage of poor are growing about 2.5X as fast as the rich. This moves us closer to the distribution of an undeveloped country.



With the exception of the poor in the 1980s, income grew for everyone in every decade from 1950 to 2000. In the decade from 2000 to 2010, incomes fell for everyone.



For now, these middle class realities seem to prompt the middle class to trust more in Obama's policies than Romney's. The middle class seems to think that Romney's policies will hurt the poor, help the rich, and help them less than Obama's policies. This perception could determine the election.



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