On Nov 21, 2007, at 11:05 AM, Chuck wrote:
> At this point, I want to point out the middle class bias underlying
> this
> idea that the Left's fortune's rise and fall based on economic
> booms and
> busts. For most working people out there, there has been nothing
> but an
> economic bust for many decades.
The late 1990s were the only time in the last 35 years that American workers across the income distribution, from women at the 10th percentile to men at the 90th, black and white and everything else, all got real wage increases.
As part of its monthly consumer confidence survey, the Conference Board has been asking people to characterize the job market since 1978. In July 2000, 56% of respondents said jobs were "plentiful," and just 10% said they were "hard to get," a gap of +46 points. That far surpassed the previous peak in April 1989, when they numbers were 35% and 20%, a gap of +15 points. The best it's gotten in this cycle is 30/19, a gap of +11. It's now 24/23.
So the late 1990s really stand out.
And what do you mean by "middle class"? Unless you're using it in some narrow sense - entrepreneurs and professional/managerial - what's the diff between middle and working class?
Doug