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Study by MIT Economist: U.S. has Regressed to a Third-World Nation for Most of its Citizens

posted by martyb on Tuesday May 23 2017, @09:16AM   
from the declasse' dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

America divided – this concept increasingly graces political discourse in the U.S., pitting left against right, conservative thought against the liberal agenda. But for decades, Americans have been rearranging along another divide, one just as stark if not far more significant – a chasm once bridged by a flourishing middle class.

Peter Temin, Professor Emeritus of Economics at MIT, believes the ongoing death of “middle America” has sparked the emergence of two countries within one, the hallmark of developing nations. In his new book, The Vanishing Middle Class: Prejudice and Power in a Dual Economy, Temin paints a bleak picture where one country has a bounty of resources and power, and the other toils day after day with minimal access to the long-coveted American dream.

In his view, the United States is shifting toward an economic and political makeup more similar to developing nations than the wealthy, economically stable nation it has long been. Temin applied W. Arthur Lewis’s economic model – designed to understand the workings of developing countries – to the United States in an effort to document how inequality has grown in America.

The 2017 World Economic Forum had the answer: "The people who have not benefited from globalization need to try harder to emulate those who have succeeded," and, "'People have to take more ownership of upgrading themselves on a continuous basis.'"

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Original Submission

• Keep Your Skills Up Keep Your Skills Up (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:19PM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:19PM (#514390)

  "The people who have not benefited from globalization need to try harder to emulate those who have succeeded," and, "'People have to take more ownership of upgrading themselves on a continuous basis.'"

  In more common words, "keep your skills up." You see those words uttered everywhere by elitist fools who happen to have jobs at the moment, blissfully deluding themselves that they will not be laid off next, as they sneer at the jobless who can't find skilled work anywhere.

  The traits which lead to success are two: Youth and Melanin. Both are innate traits. Neither trait is an acquired skill. Emulating young brown people is not possible.

• Re:Keep Your Skills Up (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @06:04PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @06:04PM (#514427)

  We've seen a recent backlash, but yes there is a hard core group of conservatives / libertarians who totally go for the bootstrap theory of success. They ignore the concept of community, at least where it is inconvenient to their worldview.

  I blame the 20th century US success, riding the wave of technological advancement and using that success to promote a specific worldview. The rugged capitalist individual who creates success from good old American know how (haha which American??) and elbow grease. There is a generational shift, so most likely you're children will be much more free of this crap.

  Parent