The Myth of Disappearing Prosperity

"But wealth is not a zero-sum game, and bigger incomes for top earners doesn't mean they're taking money from everybody else, which is how the enrichment of the upper class is often portrayed. What it means is the wealthy are benefiting the most from the modern U.S. economy."

Um, not really. This is an extreme example of intellectual laziness. While it is true that the top income earners deserve more income than the bottom income earners, this has zero information content that applies to whether the top income earners deserve all that they get and whether there might be some factor other than laziness contributing to the shrinking of the middle class.

A better assessment is to take each problem at the level where action is possible. If the problem is that a person is out of work, then the fact that we are in an economic malaise is irrelevant. The relevant thing is they need to polish their skills and work on interviewing successfully. That is the level at which you can do something about the problem. Similarly, if you are in a discussion of political priorities, the fact that as individuals, people need to work on skills and get resumes out has nothing to do with the correct approach for politicians. The correct level of analysis should acknowledged that we grew slowly or not at all between 1930 and 1938, then grew rapidly in the 40's and 50's, and then grew much slower in the 80's, 90's, and 00's. Sorry, but "people blamed the rich" in the recent period, but were industrious and hard working in the 40's and 50's does not hold water.

"We're still in the midst of that transition, which is a big reason that earnings for most income groups have fallen over the last 10 years: Too many American workers, including many in the middle class, have outdated skills that are in lower and lower demand. The inevitable result is falling pay for their services."

Again, true, but irrelevant. This is a reason, but not *the* reason, or even the most important reason. Every engineer who designs and builds something supports a salesman, a marketer, an accountant, a boss, and possibly more than one implementer. On top of that, every company that is producing something supports a restaurant, a laundromat, and a hotel. Skill sets and hard work did not create the boom period of the 40's and 50's. You have to look at economic policy to see what the critical differences were.

"Nobody gets ahead in a weak economy. Wrong! For everybody falling behind, many other Americans are learning new survival skills and taking risks they never would have taken in a more stable economy."

I don't really disagree with this as written, but does anybody really believe this? I have never heard anyone say that no-one wins in a weak economy. However, there is significant evidence that weak economies occur when economic power becomes self sustaining rather than requiring efficiency and innovation. Many of the greatest fortunes ever have been built during slowdowns.

Jeff of TX 9:01PM July 10, 2011

I could compose a long-winded rebuttal point by point but I will simply conclude my thoughts with this point, directly to the author: you are full of shit.

Nunya of WA 9:19PM April 06, 2011

Poppy cock. A college degree means less than ever and its more expensive than ever. There are many, many people with graduate degrees working in the service industry. This author does not take into consideration the number of people whose houses are being foreclosed upon or the number of people whom have less wealth than ever because of being upside down in their home. One in seven people are in poverty and about same ratio are on food stamps. That's a lot of people. The middle class is being squeezed more than ever. For one thing, inflation is not being correctly calculated. The government does not include the price of gas or food. The amount of debt in this country is greater than ever before for both the private and public sectors. The author did not mention that taxes are going to go up along with a big cut in government programs. I believe that positive thinking is great but lies are not.

Jim of KS 6:02PM February 12, 2011

In reality when Americans blame the rich for their financial situation, there alluding to the low skilled jobs that are sent overseas and the corporate bailouts that go against capitalism. While it is true that most American's would feel better about their economic situation if they are accomplishing personal goals. The idea that capitalism functions in a way where people can move up the economic latter without knocking someone off is absurd. Capitalism depends on free to cheap labor, hence why we lose low skilled jobs to overseas markets with fair conditions. But to say that the rich don’t directly affect the poor show's a lack of a general understanding of economics in this author. The rich don't favor taxes which can be raised for things like education and social programs. I do love America and we are the best country on Earth but large corporations and special interest groups and lobbyist along with classism bleed America.

Dawrin Mota of NV 1:01PM December 21, 2010