US has regressed to developing nation status, MIT economist warns

[LongTomH]

From The Independent UK: US has regressed to developing nation status, MIT economist warns

America is regressing to have the economic and political structure of a developing nation, an MIT economist has warned.

Peter Temin says the world's’ largest economy has roads and bridges that look more like those in Thailand and Venezuela than those in parts of Europe.

In his new book, “The Vanishing Middle Class", reviewed by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Mr Temin says the fracture of US society is leading the middle class to disappear.

The economist describes a two-track economy with on the one hand 20 per cent of the population that is educated and enjoys good jobs and supportive social networks.

On the other hand, the remaining 80 per cent, he said, are part of the US’ low-wage sector, where the world of possibility has shrunk and people are burdened with debts and anxious about job security.

[HopeAgain]

1. The word "developing" seems wrong for a country that is

regressing.

[LongTomH]

2. "This dual-economy has a "racist" undertone."

Mr Temin also claims that this dual-economy has a “racist” undertone.

“The desire to preserve the inferior status of blacks has motivated policies against all members of the low-wage sector.

“We have a structure that predetermines winners and losers. We are not getting the benefits of all the people who could contribute to the growth of the economy, to advances in medicine or science which could improve the quality of life for everyone — including some of the rich people," he writes.

Commenting on Mr. Temin's findings, Lynn Parramore, senior research analyst at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, writes: “Without a robust middle class, America is not only reverting to developing-country status, it is increasingly ripe for serious social turmoil that has not been seen in generations.”

[ck4829]

3. K&R, but I have an issue, this assumes that the "middle class" isn't just an illusion

Case in point: 2 people.

One is living paycheck to paycheck, misses meals, misses payments, etc.

One lives well, has a mansion and a yacht.

-

They both see themselves as "middle class".

That's a problem.

[Nitram]

4. The traditional definition of middle class meant that families did not live paycheck to paycheck.

They earned enough to pay all their bills and have some left over to put away for vacations, college and retirement. Are you suggesting there is no real middle class whatsoever anymore?

[ck4829]

5. Well yes actually, I mean, no class at all is truly real

I could go on these long rants about what I've personally experienced, what I've drawn from as a sociologist, as an activist, as a person who has walked with both the rich and poor and in between as well, as someone who has analyzed areas where people of all "classes" lived, what I've pulled from books and other forms of media, and more. I wouldn't do it justice in a forum post, but the short version is that question you asked, I would say yes.

* Class is a social construct, class is a human-made thing. There is no natural, biological, divine, etc. basis to class, including the middle class. The only exception to this is what birth canal a person passes through really.

* You mention the traditional definition of middle class, except we're not living in the traditional definition, we're living with a definition where middle class is this vague concept that everybody is, but nobody is at the same time.

* I laugh at the campaign ads, do a tally of how many candidates say that they are "going to fight for the middle class", how many do you get. Try it. I literally had it back to back a couple of weeks ago, I remember saying "God, they're not even trying anymore". That was the last straw for me when it came to the concept. The middle class is just a slogan, a bumper sticker, a thought terminating cliche.

* It's functional for people who are not lower class, it's used to divide the poor. "I'm not being screwed over by the elites, I'm not poor! I'm middle class!" There are many divisions we see, we see attempts to divide people by race, by sector (Remember dividing public sector employees against private sector?), divide the genders, sexual identities, religion, and more. Pretending that some group of people can be elevated to this "middle class" (Who are most certainly not poor!) if one is just compliant and conformist has made us blind to the psychopaths running our government and other areas of civic culture today. The quest for a mythical "middle class" has stunted activism and social justice in America.

[Nitram]

7. The irony is that you set up exactly what the middle class is by describing the two extremes,

poverty and wealth. Sure, everything in the real world exists on a spectrum, but the middle class is exactly those who neither live paycheck to paycheck, nor those who have the surplus of cash that allows them to own mansions and yachts. I get that it's an intellectual construct. So are money, time, and a lot of other things.

[BigmanPigman]

6. Isn't this what Occupy was all about?

And what about Romney telling his pals that the 1% will benefit? Economists have been saying this for 15 years. If there is no livable wage, than it will continue. Inequality For All is a good film by Robert Reich and it explains a lot.

[dalton99a]

8. Kick