The American middle class is no longer the world's richest

Discussion in 'Business & Economics' started by Plazma Inferno!, Mar 17, 2016.

  1. Plazma Inferno! Ding Ding Ding Ding Administrator

    Messages:
    4,610
    The income data compiled by LIS, a group that maintains the Luxembourg Income Study Database, shows that the American middle class, long the most affluent in the world, has lost that distinction.
    Although economic growth in the United States continues to be as strong as in many other countries, or stronger, a small percentage of American households is fully benefiting from it. Median income in Canada pulled into a tie with median United States income in 2010 and has most likely surpassed it since then. Median incomes in Western European countries still trail those in the United States, but the gap in several — including Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden — is much smaller than it was a decade ago.
    In European countries hit hardest by recent financial crises, such as Greece and Portugal, incomes have of course fallen sharply in recent years.
    The findings are striking because the most commonly cited economic statistics — such as per capita gross domestic product — continue to show that the United States has maintained its lead as the world’s richest large country. But those numbers are averages, which do not capture the distribution of income. With a big share of recent income gains in this country flowing to a relatively small slice of high-earning households, most Americans are not keeping pace with their counterparts around the world.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/u...le-class-is-no-longer-the-worlds-richest.html
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. Daecon Kiwi fruit Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,133
    If they were so rich, how come they were only "middle" class?
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.

Share This Page