Like weatherman, economists don't have to be right very often to keep their jobs.
Stephen Rose, an economist formerly of the Third Way, is apparently disappointed with the less-than-optimistic rhetoric used by Democratic candidates when discussing the economy on the campaign trail (see last week's op-ed in the WaPost). Rose calls reports that the middle class is struggling a "myth". It's the bottom 20% of the population, he asserts, who bear the brunt of income inequality. For the middle class, the forecast is sunny and clear, says Rose.
Ron Eachus, a columnist with the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon and former legislator, offers a less-than-academic refute of the Rose argument. That's probably because challenging Rose's cherry-picked statistics point-by-point is exhausting.
The more positive public response to the Democrats' economic message on the stump when compared to Republicans is perhaps more indicative of how the depiction of a struggling middle class matches the reality of voters' lives.
Our own survey data of working people demonstrates that many Americans are struggling and have doubts about their economic future.
- By a large margin, voters think the economy in this country is headed on the wrong track. When asked, sixty-one percent of registered voters said the economy was “pretty seriously off on the wrong track,” with only 31% saying the economy was “going in the right direction.”
- When asked if the American Dream is becoming easier or harder these days to achieve, seventy percent of voters say it is getting harder to achieve, and only 8% say it is getting easier, with 21% saying it is the same.
- When asked about the next generation's prospects of achieving the American Dream, 77% said the next generation would be no better off, 46% thought they would be worse off.
See the Center for Economic Policy and Research Senior Economist John Schmitt debate Stephen Rose. The debate was prompted by Schmitt's publishing of a report titled "A Good Job is Hard to Find." In the report, Schmitt concluded that the share of good jobs has declined in the period since 2000 and and the driving force behind the decline has been steep drops in the share of jobs offering health insurance and pension plans.
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For the middle class, the forecast is sunny and clear, says Rose.
A great number of economists, politicians and wealthy many times refer to the "Middle CLass", I still don't believe in that class distinction. My income level may place me in the middle, of all wage earneres in this country, however I only got there by selling my labor to another. I am of the "Working Class". There are really only two classes in our country. Those that must work and those that don't have the need.
When we stop sub catagorizing our selves we may finally stand together and get something done to make our lives better.
Posted by Gary Pruitt on January 10, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Posted on January 10, 2008 at 5:33 PM