Premium Essay

Middle Class America Feeling the Economic Squeeze

In:

Submitted By scottyj0417
Words 1401
Pages 6
Middle Class America is Feeling the Pressures of Economic Distress
Larry S. Jordan
Excelsior College

Do you remember a time when gasoline was under $2.00 per gallon? I do and it was 2008 when it last occurred. Middle Class America is feeling the pressure of the recession. Economic growth has slowed down over the last decade and is improving only slightly in the last four years. In a time when the commodity prices are rising, and the cost of living is increasing, the one constant that stays the same is that the middle class income is not rising as fast as inflation. Middle Class America is diminishing with the rising costs of healthcare, stagnant wages vs. inflation, and the rise of unemployment. The rising costs of healthcare have escalated over the last 10 years significantly. Davidson (2014) reported that the fourth quarter last year was the fastest pace in health care spending in the last 10 years. The total spending on healthcare is expected to reach over 4 trillion dollars by the year 2021, according to Aetna Insurance. The reason this effects the middle class is that employers are requiring the employee to share in a larger portion of the insurance premiums, this is a change that is becoming popular with most companies. Collins (2008) reported that the proportion of adults spending 10% or more on their healthcare have more than doubled between 2001 and 2007, from 18 percent to 36 percent. One of the core beliefs is that the middle class income is not keeping up with inflation and the added cost of healthcare causes the middle class worker to make tough decisions around personal well-being and basic necessities. Medical spending the last three years has reduced due to the recession. Americans had to make tough decisions and cutting out healthcare and seeking treatment was one of those choices. The economy is starting to recover and with that Americans

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Confronting Inequality

...about inequality is the straight forward matter of living standards. The lack of clear economic progress for lower and middle income families is in itself an important reason to seek a more equal distribution of income” (322). Krugman also uses many quotes from people who have had a big impact on America to help argue his point about inequality. Quote that stuck out on its own was the one Thomas Jefferson said, “The small landowners are the most precious part of a state” (323). This quote is stating that middle class is very important to a state. “High Inequality…Nation much weakened middle class, has a corrosive effect on social relations and politics…America has moved deeper into a new Gilded Age” (323). Krugman says, “One of the best arguments I’ve ever seen for the social costs of inequality came from a movement conservative trying to argue the opposite” (323). He then quotes the conservative Kristol “We shouldn’t worry about income inequality, because whatever the numbers say, class distinctions are, in reality, all but gone” (323). Although he doesn’t agree with this quote he uses it to better show the controversy between your average liberals and conservatives in America on the rising inequality issue. Krugman made a table about the Percentage of 1988 Eighth Graders Finishing College to show that most children who make higher scores tend to have higher class parents. He also states that “Students who scored bottom fourth…We call rich dumb kids…Who...

Words: 778 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Gay Marriages

...Outline Worksheet for Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: Questions of Policy/Action Title: Legalizing Gay Marriages Speaker: Tyrel Brown Specific Purpose: The specific purpose of this speech is to educate people about marriages and persuade people to help in the fight towards legalizing people of the same sex to be married and not put on contract. I. Attention A. Attention getter: FCKH8 Video Clip B. Establishment of Ethos: I am an expert at this because I have studied both opinions on this situation and referred to different people about their view on this topic. C. Central Idea: The central idea of this speech is to open the listeners eyes to ground rules set up from the beginning that states that separation needs to be made between religion and government, so the two shall never meld to become a theocracy. With the issue of gay marriage, lines get blurred and religion rears its head to influence a government’s decision of who shall be married and who will be refused.  (Transition) What is marriage? Marriage is a social union or legal contract between a man and a woman that creates kinship which is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, is acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found. Basically marriage is a statement to the world that this is the man/woman that he/she has decided to have sex with for the rest of his/her life. II....

Words: 1992 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Occupy Wallstreet

...that we live in. We must begin to investigate the true meaning of how our monetary and fiscal policy is supposed to work in our recessed economy. As expressed by the Occupy Wall Street protesters it is clear that greed has lead to our financial windfall. Leaving me to wonder do our elected officials really understand how our economics system works. Like the Occupy Wall Street protesters the American people have a wide range of complaints, demands, and goals. The American people along with cries around the world are tired of "the collapsing environment, labor standards, housing policy, government corruption, World Bank lending practices, unemployment, and the increasing wealth disparity of a poverty stricken nation"(Occupied America)  Different people have been affected by different aspects of the same system; they believe that these were symptoms of the same core problem in the world’s financial crisis. In the mean time, prompting a dominos effect around the world which consisted of a demographic pool of young protesters do to the rise of unemployment. Leaving us to wonder why stiffer regulations haven’t been imposed on Wall Street and in corporate America. As we continue to...

Words: 2167 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Overspent American

...In 1996 a best-selling book entitled The Millionaire Next Door caused a minor sensation. In contrast to the popular perception of millionaire lifestyles, this book reveals that most millionaires live frugal lives--buying used cars, purchasing their suits at JC Penney, and shopping for bargains. These very wealthy people feel no need to let the world know they can afford to live much better than their neighbors. Millions of other Americans, on the other hand, have a different relationship with spending. What they acquire and own is tightly bound to their personal identity. Driving a certain type of car, wearing particular designer labels, living in a certain kind of home, and ordering the right bottle of wine create and support a particular image of themselves to present to the world. This is not to say that most Americans make consumer purchases solely to fool others about who they really are. It is not to say that we are a nation of crass status-seekers. Or that people who purchase more than they need are simply demonstrating a base materialism, in the sense of valuing material possessions above all else. But it is to say that, unlike the millionaires next door, who are not driven to use their wealth to create an attractive image of themselves, many of us are continually comparing our own lifestyle and possessions to those of a select group of people we respect and want to be like, people whose sense of what's important in life seems close to our own. ...

Words: 7492 - Pages: 30

Free Essay

International Economics

...until laid bare by a direct hit from the financial crisis. Across the developed world, most particularly the US, the UK and the Eurozone, decades of stagnant real wages, accumulating debt and flagging innovation had left the middle class acutely vulnerable to the financial storm that swept the globe. In the wake of the Great Recession, a sizable stratum of spent consumers has materialized where an aspirational middle used to be. Overlooked—or just ignored— during the boom preceding the global recession was clear evidence that the position of the middle class in developed markets was increasingly fragile. The New York Times reported in early 2008 that “[t]he European dream is under assault, as the wave of inflation sweeping the globe mixes with this continent’s long-stagnant wages.” A recent report from the UK-based Resolution Foundation Commission on Living Standards documents the failure of wages in developed markets since the mid-1970s to keep pace with economic growth, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Wages as a Percentage of National Income for OECD Countries 60% 55% 50% 1970-74 1975-79 1980-84 1985-89 1990-94 1995-99 2000-04 2005-08 Source: James Plunkett, Growth Without Gain? The Faltering Living Standards of People on Low-to-Middle Incomes, Resolution Foundation Commission on Living Standards, May 2011. 3 Quickening the Pace In the US, as Figure 2 reflects, inflation-adjusted wages...

Words: 12348 - Pages: 50

Free Essay

Toni Morrison`S Zula.the Other Among the Other

...their sex. “Feminism is a doctrine suggesting that women are systematically disadvantaged in the modern society and advocating equal opportunities for men and women.”(The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology, second Ed). The term includes many loose like liberal feminism, Marxist and socialist feminism, radical feminism. Liberal feminists work for equal rights for women within the framework of the liberal state; they did not question the structure –economic or political-of the state but they demand the rights and privileges given by the state should be equally shared by man and women. Marxist and socialist feminists’ link gender inequality and women’s oppression to the capitalist system. Women suffer a double exploitation as women and as members of the working class. Radical feminists disregard all questions of political and economic dispensation to concentrate on the roots of the problem. The central root of the problem is the system of patriarchy which leads to all kinds of discrimination against and devaluation of women. Politico-economic questions are not the roots but only auxiliaries. The concept of gender is the real villain and has to be demolished. Lately, more groups like Psychoanalytical feminism, Postmodern or Poststructuralists feminism, Black feminism and so on have also been added. Black feminism mainly studies the issues of self- consciousness and self identity of black women who are caught in a dilemma and tries to provide methods to help black women achieve self...

Words: 12016 - Pages: 49

Premium Essay

Unethical Marketing of Prescription Drugs

...Unethical Marketing of Prescription Drugs: Misleading Direct-To-Consumer Advertising and Disease Mongering. October 3, 2011 Unethical Marketing of Prescription Drugs Introduction The purpose of this ethical paper is to investigate the marketing tactics being used by pharmaceutical companies and discuss the ethical issues involved. The primary source of information discussed in this paper was gathered from analysis of business and scholar journals, case studies, and current news articles. The main focus of my research was placed on the unethical practices of pharmaceutical companies and the current marketing regulations in the United States. The unethical practices primarily covered in this paper include disease/fear mongering, and the misuse of direct-to-consumer & physician-directed marketing to increase the profits of pharmaceutical firms. But before we get into the unethical practices taking place in today’s pharmaceutical industry, let’s take a look at the idea of ethics. So, what exactly is ethics? Merriam-Webster defines ethics as “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation,” and “a theory or system of moral values” (Merriam-Webster, 2011). As you can see, this is a complex but vague definition to say the least. In today’s world of international business where firms operate across cultural boundaries and face stiff competition in the fight for profits, it’s even more difficult to clearly define the meaning of...

Words: 3386 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Lauder Global Insights

...changes in Japan’s traditional food-consumption habits, and how a sector of the Chinese population is spreading, and spending, its newfound wealth. The report offers an analysis linking market-driven strategies with social impact in Peru and Colombia, as well as an article describing South Carolina’s embrace of innovative research. Other articles look at the Russian government’s attempt to reboot the city of Skolkovo as an innovation hub, the mixed success of innovation efforts in China, and the growing threat of cybercrime to businesses across the world. The challenges of infrastructure and planning are addressed in analyses of transportation in areas of Latin America, deficiencies in Brazil’s infrastructure, and real estate’s impact on Peru’s emerging middle class. Business and politics underpin a number of economic forces, as noted in articles on corruption and protest in India, social unrest in Brazil, the potential of the gemstone tanzanite to help develop Tanzania’s economy, and growing frictions between China and Myanmar. Cities on the move in the global economy are examined in separate articles on...

Words: 56733 - Pages: 227

Premium Essay

Charles Dickens

...Charles John Huffam Dickens (/ˈtʃɑrlz ˈdɪkɪnz/; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period.[1] During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.[2][3] Born in Portsmouth, England, Dickens was forced to leave school to work in a factory when his father was thrown into debtors' prison. Although he had little formal education, his early impoverishment drove him to succeed. Over his career he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas and hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. Dickens sprang to fame with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication.[4][5] The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction...

Words: 8273 - Pages: 34

Free Essay

Rules for Redicals

...Books by Saul Alinsky John L. Lewis, An Unauthorized Biography Reveille for Radicals The Professional Radical (with Marian Sanders) Rules for Radicals RULES FOR RADICALS A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals SAUL D. ALINSKY RANDOM HOUSE New York Acknowledgments This chapter "Of Means and Ends" was presented in the Auburn Lecture Series at Union Theological Seminary. Some of the other sections of this book were delivered in part in lectures before the Leaders of America series at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California; Yale Political Union, New Haven, Connecticut, April, 1970; The Willis D. Wood Fellowship Lecture, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, May, 1969; American Society of Newspaper Editors, Washington, D.C., 1968; U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C.; March, 1968; A.F. of L.-C.I.O. Labor Press Association, Miami, Florida, December, 1967; American Whig-Cliosophic Society, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 1967; Centennial Address, Episcopal Theological Seminary, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1968; Harvard Medical Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 Copyright © 1971 by Saul D. Alinsky All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. ISBN: 0-394-44341-1 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 70-117651 ...

Words: 62916 - Pages: 252

Free Essay

Dsad

...Chapter 1 Amir will narrate the whole book, except for Chapter 16, which is narrated by Rahim Khan. This first chapter is very cryptic if you haven't read the rest of the book, or at least read a summary of the plot. There, we've warned you. Amir tells us something happened in the winter of 1975 and this event made him what he is today. He gives us some scattered images: a crumbling mud wall, an alley, a frozen creek. Amir remembers a phone call last summer from his friend Rahim Khan. He feels like a past of "unatoned sins" is calling him up. So he takes a walk and looks at some kites, which remind him of someone named Hassan. During the walk, Amir sits on a park bench. He thinks of Baba and Ali, and Kabul, Afghanistan. The chapter ends where it began: "I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today" (1.3). Chapter 2 This chapter is a slideshow of Amir's early childhood. Fasten the seatbelts on your recliners! Amir and Hassan get into harmless mischief together as kids. Hassan often takes the blame if the two troublemakers get caught. Amir describes his childhood home, built by his father. It has rosebushes, marble floors, mosaic tiles, and gold-stitched tapestries. Oh, and a crystal chandelier. Baba, Amir's father, has a smoking room in the house but he doesn't let Amir hang out there. Go away, Amir. Some of Baba's cabinets have a few pictures: Amir's grandfather and King Nadir Shah and one of Amir's...

Words: 6398 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

Introduction

...workplace 4 3.2 Racial discrimination at workplace 5 3.3 Disability discrimination at workplace 6 4.0 Sexual harassment 7 5.0 Impact of discrimination at workplace 10 6.0 If you’re Being Discriminated Against... 10 6.1 Don't Pretend That It Isn't Happening 10 6.2 Seek Advice 10 7.0 If You Are Accused of Discrimination... 11 7.1 Take the Accusation Seriously 11 7.2 Avoid Retaliation 11 7.3 Review Your Rights and Seek Advice 11 8.0 Prevent discrimination at workplace 12 8.1 Embracing Workplace Diversity 12 9.0 Conclusion 14 10.0 example of discrimination at workplace 15 11.0 reference 20 1.0 Definition of discrimination Discrimination toward or against a person or group is the treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit. It is usually associated with prejudice. It can be behavior promoting a certain group (e.g. affirmative action), or it can be negative behavior directed against a certain group (e.g. redlining). Discrimination is a behavior (an action), particularly with reference to unequal treatment of people because they are of a particular group whether it be racial, ethnic, religious, or gender. Besides that, discrimination also can separate to 2 mains group that is direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. 1.1 Direct discrimination Direct discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favorably than another in a...

Words: 6707 - Pages: 27

Premium Essay

Economic Hitman

...Confessions of an Economic Hit Man By John Perkins Preface Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development, and other foreign “aid” organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization. I should know; I was an EHM. I wrote that in 1982, as the beginning of a book with the working title Conscience of an Economic Hit Man. The book was dedicated to the presidents of two countries, men who had been my clients, whom I respected and thought of as kindred spirits—Jaime Roldós, president of Ecuador, and Omar Torrijos, president of Panama. Both had just died in fiery crashes. Their deaths were not accidental. They were assassinated because they opposed that fraternity of corporate, government, and banking heads whose goal is global empire. We EHMs failed to bring Roldós and Torrijos around, and the other type of hit men, the CIA-sanctioned jackals who were always right behind us, stepped in. I was persuaded to stop writing that book. I started it four more times during the next twenty years. On each occasion, my decision to...

Words: 13140 - Pages: 53

Premium Essay

Emerging Markets Survey

...emerging markets, very few take a systematic approach towards looking at how emerging-market companies have not only fended off developed-world multinationals, but also found their own ways to expand into foreign markets. In addition to drawing on the insights of PricewaterhouseCoopers partners and associates from every market, we relied on two additional sources: 1. The 11th Annual PwC Global CEO Survey: The authoritative analysis of CEO views on business opportunities and risks of operating in an increasingly connected world. PricewaterhouseCoopers has published the survey for more than a decade, reaching out to more than 1,100 chief executive officers worldwide. The 11th Annual Global CEO Survey was launched in January 2008 at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. The survey data were re-analysed for this report at the country level as well as by contrasting insights from developed versus emerging markets. For the purposes of this report, we define “developed nations” to include 19 economies, including the United States and Canada, 15 in Western Europe, Japan and Australia. This is a narrower sample of industrialised economies than other current analyses, primarily because we wanted to capture the convergence between what was more traditionally considered the developed world with the rest of the world. As a result, our sample for “emerging markets” includes CEOs from 31 of the largest and most influential economies outside of the developed world,...

Words: 17505 - Pages: 71

Premium Essay

The World in 2008

...will win the most gold medals, and bask in national pride and the global limelight. But it will also face awkward questions on its repressive politics. America and China will be prime players in the matters that will concentrate minds around the world in 2008. One of these is the world economy, which can no longer depend on America, with its housing and credit woes, to drive growth. America should—just—avoid recession, but it will be China (for the first time the biggest contributor to global growth) along with India and other emerging markets that will shine. Another focus of attention will be climate change. As China replaces America as the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases, serious efforts on global warming depend on the serious involvement of those two countries. If 2007 was the year when this rose to the top of the global agenda, in 2008 people will expect action. It is striking that green is a theme that links all the contributions from political leaders in this volume, whether at the city level (Michael Bloomberg), the national level (Felipe Calderón, Nancy Pelosi, Nicolas Sarkozy) or the supranational level (the UN’s Ban Ki-moon, ASEAN’s Surin Pitsuwan). The politicians have talked the issue up; will they now let people down? A third preoccupation will be geopolitical risk. The conventional wisdom is that America is...

Words: 89030 - Pages: 357