Download Kal Zlatilov English 1010 Professor Camie Schaefer November 27

Kal Zlatilov
English 1010
Professor Camie Schaefer
November 27, 2015
The Role the Middle Class plays in the prosperity of our economy
For years the middle class has been cast aside as the top 1% live luxuriously. There’s always been
an issue of the income inequality between social classes, but the middle class seems to be forgotten most
of the time, and individuals don’t realize the impact it has had on our nation’s economy. The
transformation of the middle class in the past 50 years has coalesced with the major economic
dilemmas/inflection points that our country has experienced such as income inequality, household
incomes, racial equality, and jobs growth.
The middle class transforming has affected our overall economic growth in the past seven years
since the recession. As Edward Mclleland pointed out, “Even when American industry dominated the
world, one reason workers prospered was that the economy operated on New Deal underpinnings, which
included legal protections for labor unions, and government regulation of industry.” (quoted in TSIS 557).
To put it another way, the middle class prospered during the industry boon because of protections for the
bottom half of workers and regulation of the business operations. In today’s innovative workforce, the
government regulation isn’t as strict as it used to be leading to a shortage in hiring and an inequality in
income as aforementioned. These two macroeconomic ideas are key influencers for the growth of our
economy and the also apply to the middle class’ prosperity. They further support my point that the
transforming of the middle class has affected economic growth.
Weak economic growth signals less jobs and a rise in unemployment. Recent jobs data from the
Wall Street Journal have shown that we as an economy are adding jobs at a slower rate than expected to at
a time of economic expansion. It also detailed the current participation rate of the labor market as 62.4
percent, respectively. What all of these statistics really mean, is that less jobs lead to a smaller
participation rate of workers, which leads to weak economic growth. Although, it can be argued that our
participation rate is so high because of the wages being offered in the market. While I agree that our
wages could be relatively higher, there is still an excess of jobs that offer high wages and don’t require
specialized skills. It’s better to be earning some sort of income than to be unemployed.
In today’s modern economy, the inequality between ethnic groups conveys an idea that equality
today isn’t where it realistically should be. According to the Pew Research Team, “The gaps between
blacks and whites in household income and household wealth have widened.” The advantages that the
white population have had has ultimately hurt our economy. My point is that we should focus on
legislations that will restore the gaps to balance. I believe this initiative will improve the health of our
struggling middle class and bring forth more economic growth. It will do so by allowing our middle class
to spend more on normal goods because of their increased prosperity and income.
What is the relationship between the middle class and MLK’s dream? I believe the question today
is whether we as a nation have come close to the equality MLK envisioned for us. The statistics the Pew
Research Team provides in their essay are staggering and tend to argue that we haven’t made any real
progress towards equality. In a recent poll taken by the Pew Research Team, indicates 45 out of 96
individuals said that “a lot of progress has been made towards equality.” In addition, 49 out of 96 said “a
lot more needs to be done in order to achieve racial equality.” (quoted in TSIS 628). This issue of racial
and ethnic group equality should a primary focus for our politicians and economic leaders. If we make
progress towards resolving it, then millions of families will be the beneficiaries. Incomes will rise,
poverty will fall, and the struggling single mothers or families will no longer have to worry about how
they’re going to pay their next bill.
As Heather Boushey says in her article about the American middle class, “A strong middle class
promotes the development of human capital and a well-educated population. (quoted in Boushey 1).
Human Capital is the way to economic growth. The problem today is that individuals aren’t able to match
their skills to the appropriate occupation. The main obstacle to this is the inequality. Our economists and
government must recognize how it ultimately hinders our nation’s growth path. I believe that analysts and
economists sometimes react as if they are surprised to hear about the stumbling growth in our country.
They seem to look at the issues that are more on a macro level and aren’t able to apply it to the
intangibles, which human capital is an example of.
If individuals that typically come from low income backgrounds aren’t given the opportunities to
make use of their skills, then our growth is being stunted in a major way. We must recognize that these
individuals are the future leaders of our economy and the government needs to do a better job of
providing subsidies to them. Human capital, and higher incomes are being passed on from parents to
offspring through social channels. In other words, individuals are being rewarded for privileges conveyed
by their parent’s social class status. This is a perfect example of inequality between classes and it pulls
U.S. economic growth down. While this may be difficult to regulate, I believe that all individuals should
have opportunities to earn the same privileges, which will of course steer us on a more positive economic
outlook.
Between 1979 and 2007, “median family income rose by 35 percent, while incomes for the 99th
percentile rose by 278 percent.” (quoted in Boushey 1). This figure alone resembles the inequality
between incomes that faces us today. Modest income gains by the middle class have been achieved
although by working longer hours, increasing labor supply while wages remained constant and failed to
keep pace with inflation. I believe that wages will remain as they were with companies increasingly
replacing blue collar positions with technological advancements that allow them to cut down on labor
costs. Companies and corporations are greedy and if they continue to do this, the demand for labor will
decrease and there will be a surplus of labor which will influence the jobs data negatively and our
economic growth negatively. As technology is being applied to more companies’ operations, it will force
the labor market to learn highly specialized skills in order to maintain job security and high wages. I
believe this will hurt the struggling families even more and also increase income inequality.
As I mentioned before, the solution to the above mentioned issue has to be some sort of
regulation on the government’s part. We need to create a larger amount of opportunities for our nation’s
middle class in order to increase economic health and growth.
Works Cited
Roemer, Tim. "America Remains the World's Beacon of Success." Ed. Gerald Graff. They Say, I Say: With
Readings. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014. 618-21. Print.
Pew’s Research, “King’s Dream Remains an Elusive Goal.” They say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in
Academic Writing. By Gerald Graff. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. N. pag. Print.
Boushey, Heather. "The American Middle Class, Income Inequality, and the Strength of Our Economy."
Center for American Progress<. N.p., 17 May 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2015
Mclelland, Edward. "RIP, The Middle Class; 1946-2013." They Say, I Say: With Readings. Ed. Gerald Graff.
New York: W.W. Norton, 2014. 549-58. Print.