A DECADE OF FLAT WAGES
The Key Barrier to Shared Prosperity and a Rising Middle Class
BY LAWRENCE MISHEL AND HEIDI SHIERHOLZ
The nation’s economic discourse has finally shifted from talk of “grand bargain” budget deals to a focus on addressing the economic challenges of the middle class and those aspiring to join the middle class. Growing the economy from the “middle out” has become the new frame for discuss- ing economic policy. This is long overdue; in our view, an economy that does not provide shared prosperity is, by definition, a poorly performing one. Further, such an economy will not provide sustainable growth without relying on consumption fueled by asset bubbles and escalating household debt. The col- lapse of the housing bubble and the ensuing Great Recession have laid bare the consequences of this model of unbalanced growth.
The revived discussion of strengthening the middle class, however, has so far failed to drill down to the central problem: The wage and benefit growth of the vast majority, including white-collar and blue-collar workers and those with and without a college degree, has stagnated, as the fruits of overall growth have accrued disproportionately to the richest households.