"'Squeezed Middle' Chafes as Superrich, World's Poorest Reap Globalization's Benefits; Capital Becoming King Again"
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304419104579324593432465048?mod=WSJ_economy_LEADStoryTop
Stephen Fidler and the Wall Street Journal analyze the inter-related economic phenomenon of the last 30 years: globalization and rising intra-country inequality (as measured by the Gini Coefficient). While the poorest of the world's population have benefited from globalization and the investment it has brought into their economies and while the rich have benefited from the returns on capitol these investments have given them, the middle income population of the developed world has seen their income either shrink or grow infinitesimally (~1% or <1%) in real terms. What will be the effect of these developing trends on Western democracies, which are run by the very people globalization has benefited least (at least in terms of effect on incomes)?
The alarming trends the authors and their sources discuss are presented in their political context. The article is therefore a traditional piece of Political Economy scholarship. The authors' theories are wide-ranging, but they agree that change is on the way, and the wave of the future is Capitol. What do you think the ever-decreasing national returns to Labor will mean for our democracy?
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