Tag Archives: Middle class

Opinion – Guess what’s weakening the U.S. middle class | The Japan Times – John Gelmini

March 30, 2015 By in Business Administration, Education, Fiscal Policy, Growth, Healthcare, People, Politics, US Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

The answer to Dr Alf’s question is that President Obama has done nothing for the American middle classes other than harm.

They have suffered partially because of the reasons cited in the article and partially because of disintermediation, which transfers value traditionally shared with middlemen and middle managers directly to business owners and directors who enrich themselves at the expense of all their employees.

We see the phenomenon with people going into bookshops and scanning product codes and then buying directly from Amazon.
The result of this and the rise of more internet based businesses which pay little or no tax is that shopkeepers and local suppliers are squeezed out.

President Obama in common with many other world leaders has done nothing to educate people in the middle classes to learn languages, become more culturally aware and think more creatively even to the point of leaving the country and setting themselves up in business somewhere else.

The American concept of a “chicken in every pot” and a God-given right to wealth and opportunity is alluring but an economy which favors the “Big Battalions” and high-tech start-ups does not favor those in the middle, unless they get much more with it and much more nimble.

President Obama has brought in Corporation taxes that are higher than those in the UK, Singapore and many other places and has saddled many smaller businesses with red tape in the form of Obamacare, which adds to wage costs and renders companies less competitive.

John Gelmini

Global Views of Economic Opportunity and Inequality | Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project

February 16, 2015 By in Business Administration, Central banks, Democracy, Education, Euro Crisis, Fiscal Policy, Keynesian, People, Politics Tags: , 1 Comment
English: Banks Furious As Shares Tumble, Eveni...

English: Banks Furious As Shares Tumble, Evening Standard, London, UK, 7 October 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is an outstanding article with excellent graphics from Pew Research. It’s a must-read. Check it out!

via Global Views of Economic Opportunity and Inequality | Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, with many governments fixated by excessive austerity, capitalism has been under attack – the wealthy & privileged have gone from strength to strength, yet the working and middle classes have stagnated or suffered under savage austerity. Yet the evidence is that in most parts of the World, capitalism is still the best game in town. There are exceptions of course, like Argentina – but the exceptions tend to have had their own political, economic and social challenges.

Thoughts?