Hey guys, I just ran across this article from the New York Times that I found pretty interesting, since it pertains to some of the topics we have discussed in class. It explains how the middle-class has suffered pretty hard over the past few years, and it offers some reasons to have higher hopes looking forward. Such reasons include higher wages in China, technological innovation in China, increased trade, and even the presence of religion.
Personally, I think that these issues have a lot more to do with the distribution of wealth in the United States than these factors. They might help out the middle-class in some ways but I feel as though the effect will be minimal. What do you guys think? Are exogenous factors such as economic changes in China going to play a part in saving the middle class, or is it going to have to happen internally? Will it be a mix of both?
This was a very interesting article. While I have no doubt that the Chinese economy impacts the United States, his argument comes across as wishful thinking. There are too many domestic factors at play that exasperate the income inequality in this country. While this article provides an interesting perspective to the state of the middle class in the country, it does not provide a holistic view of the entire issue.
ReplyDeleteI always thought that the technological advance would negatively affect the job market especially for low-skilled workers. But, I didn't often think about the positive side of improvement in technology. I feel like this article is too optimistic. I do think that economic changes in China will surely influence American economy. However, there are so many factors that we have to consider. Like Graham said, the changes in Chinese economy cannot be only factor that can positively influence income inequality and the fall the middle-class.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great ideal, and I see the possibility in the idea. However, there are so many variables to move this idea into the reality. I think it might also heavily depend on political regimes in America.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a great ideal, and I see the possibility in the idea. However, there are so many variables to move this idea into the reality. I think it might also heavily depend on political regimes in America.
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