Greg Fuller Responds to Cynthia Tucker
/Another excellent clarion call - Ms Tucker [article]
. But please permit me to add , the theme Middle
Class Shrinkage only partly reveals the insidious economic
path we trod . We are actually shrinking our entire domestic
market , which like a " pacman " is working
it's way up the economic food chain. A shrinking market
means businesses must find ever more creative ways to boost profits ,
outsourcing (cheaper labor ) is just the latest gimmick in a corporate
bag of tricks dating back to the " right sizing" mania
of the 80's & early 90's . But
the "well- to- do" souldn't become
to sanguine , as a shrinking domestic
market, eventually catches up to them as
well . With every Darwinian merger , acquisition and
etc . , there are fewer executive jobs . And for those counting on
unearned income , they may be forced to contend with
declining values in financial and real assets , due to there
being fewer capable buyers for big houses , stocks and
other investments they will need to liquidate .
The Robber Baron period you refereed to is actually quite illustrative as a model of how life could be , should current trends continue . It was period of extreme income inequality : a tiny well-to-do cadre , about 10% of the population in the middle class and the rest living in conditions ranging from scraping by to something out of a Dickens novel .
We have built our society on bedrock of commerce, consumer spending is fully two thirds of our economy ; obviously , their must jobs for there to be consumers. Further , jobs are the foundation for pension and healthcare systems and the social safty net built by our forbears to avoid the dismal life condtions of the Robber Baron and earlier periods in our history .
Our conundrum is : Will we or can we act to halt the current economic backslide and if not what does that portend for us and our progeny ?
Regards ,
Greg Fuller
The Robber Baron period you refereed to is actually quite illustrative as a model of how life could be , should current trends continue . It was period of extreme income inequality : a tiny well-to-do cadre , about 10% of the population in the middle class and the rest living in conditions ranging from scraping by to something out of a Dickens novel .
We have built our society on bedrock of commerce, consumer spending is fully two thirds of our economy ; obviously , their must jobs for there to be consumers. Further , jobs are the foundation for pension and healthcare systems and the social safty net built by our forbears to avoid the dismal life condtions of the Robber Baron and earlier periods in our history .
Our conundrum is : Will we or can we act to halt the current economic backslide and if not what does that portend for us and our progeny ?
Regards ,
Greg Fuller
