Great article. Starts with Citigroup's Plutonomy report (the report has been ruthlessly removed from the Web by Citi's lawyers) — wherein they show that, in the US, the middle class doesn't really exist. In reality, there are only two groups, a small percentage of rich households (that drive all consumption and investment) and the rest (that live hand to mouth). The last time this happened (in the 1920s) a global depression was the inevitable result
Can the Middle Class Be Saved?
The Great Recession has accelerated the hollowing-out of the American middle class. And it has illuminated the widening divide between most of America and the super-rich. Both developments herald grave consequences. Here is how we can bridge the gap between us.
By Don Peck
The Atlantic, September 2011