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2015-12-11 Economy

Solving the mystery of the disappearing middle class

[Political Calculations] More or Less is a BBC 4 radio program, hosted by Undercover Economist Tim Harford, dedicated to explaining and sometimes debunking the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life. It's a fascinating program and we often play the podcasts as we toil behind the scenes here at Political Calculations.

We bring that up because we've noticed a pattern developing in this past week, where we find ourselves treading on their territory, as we've explored a better measure of the economic well-being of the people of a nation, debunked a key assertion of a team of climate scientists and used U.S. soybean exports to explain why China's economy may not be performing as dismally as it appears.

Today, we're back in debunking mode, thanks to the release of a report by the Pew Research Center on Wednesday, 10 December 2015, which finds that the United States has reached a kind of tipping point, as middle class households in the U.S. are no longer in the majority. The Washington Post describes the report's key findings:

Posted by Besoeker 2015-12-11 10:08|| || Front Page|| [11132 views ] Top

#1 Mystery? We've been saying since at least the 1920's that socialism would kill the middle class.

Posted by Iblis 2015-12-11 11:55|| 2015-12-11 11:55|| Front Page Top

#2 They're not disappearing, only priced out of existence.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2015-12-11 14:42|| 2015-12-11 14:42|| Front Page Top

#3 Why is anyone surprised?

"Middleclassness" and the pursuit thereof is a sin in Obama's religion.

Posted by Elmerert Hupens2660 2015-12-11 14:46|| 2015-12-11 14:46|| Front Page Top

#4 That which you reward you get more of.
That which you punish you get less of.
This is not a difficult concept.

Posted by Nguard 2015-12-11 14:58|| 2015-12-11 14:58|| Front Page Top

#5 They're not disappearing, they're just more selective...

Posted by Steve White 2015-12-11 17:44|| 2015-12-11 17:44|| Front Page Top

#6 The middle classes are almost non existant. Who outside rentier jobs can afford to employ one assistant full time? (that's the typical entry level middle class).

Collapse in Land affordability has ruined the youth too.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2015-12-11 18:17|| 2015-12-11 18:17|| Front Page Top

#7 Once the merchant class understood that they could make more off the middle class than the upper class, the plundering was inevitable.

Posted by ed in texas 2015-12-11 20:17|| 2015-12-11 20:17|| Front Page Top

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