The End of the Middle Class: What Went Wrong and What We Can Do About It

How the middle class is bearing the brunt of economic change and what we can do to reinvigorate the economy and create jobs The U.S. economy has changed in a fundamental way requiring an adjustment that will take years to complete. The growth model that relied on easy credit and overconsumption that defined the years prior to the Great Recession of 2007–2009 has given way to a model driven by energy, technology, and manufacturing. Bloomberg chief economist Joseph Brusuelas and top retail analyst Kristin Bentz combine forces here, arguing that the economy is in far worse shape than generally acknowledged, with weak economic output, falling wages, and declining consumption. Briskly written with illuminating charts, the authors? focus on the plight of the middle class, which is bearing the burden of the adjustment process and is suffering a long–term decline in living standards. The economic malaise is most visible at the retail level, with high–end stores that cater to the well–off and big box stores predominating, while retailers that cater to middle income earners downsize or go out of business. Looking ahead, the authors project policymakers will be forced to reduce federal debt by a combination of tax hikes (most likely a carbon tax) and entitlement cuts (raise the retirement age and increase Medicare premiums) or face the prospect of another financial crisis. Longer term, they advocate the following: Selling 50–year Treasury bonds exclusively devoted to infrastructure rebuilding, modeled after the highway re–building in California following the 1994 earthquake Encouraging domestic development and export of crude oil and liquefied natural gas, along with foreign investment in factories near cheap sources of North American energy Investment in targeted workforce re–training in technology, energy, and manufacturing In the face of political gridlock, The End of the Middle Class is a clarion call to face economic reality and enact policies that will stimulate job growth and opportunity.

• ISBN: 978-1-118-78040-4
• Editorial: John Wiley & Sons
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 208
• Fecha Publicación: 19/11/2014
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés