America’s anxious middle
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Since 1998, America’s economy has expanded by more than 25 per cent but median wages have stagnated. America’s middle-class is growing restive at this uneven distribution of prosperity - leading to rising protectionist pressures, opposition to immigration and political populism.
America’s elite is pulling further ahead
At a time when the incomes of average Americans have only recently started to grow again in inflation-adjusted terms after half a decade of stagnation, the CEO windfall is striking.
Only fairness will assuage the anxious middle
When, as now, concerns become sufficiently serious, those with bad ideas always win out over those with no ideas, writes Lawrence Summers
Sans safety net, 'creative destruction' spurs America
If Americans are feeling ever more insecure about inequality, jobs and globalisation, they are not alone. The concerns of the "anxious middle" income earners are choed across the Atlantic.
Seeking shelter: why Democrats are in retreat from their free-trade record
Judging by the mood of leading Democratic contenders in next Tuesday's heated midterm congressional elections, Mr Clinton would find it much harder now to sustain his party's support for an America that is open to the world.
Anxious middle: why ordinary Americans have missed out on the benefits of growth
Jack Drake understands better than most Americans how strongly the US economy has performed over recent years. His job with a media company in Atlanta involves transcribing conference calls hosted by public companies to deliver financial information to analysts and investors.
Summers and Rubin to highlight lagging wages
Larry Summers, the last Treasury secretary of the Clinton administration, will today join Robert Rubin, his immediate predecessor, in a high-profile drive to highlight stagnation in wage growth for the majority of workers in the US economy.
Profits of doom
Globalisation generates colossal sums, most of which, argues Richard Tomkins, benefit only the very rich and the very poor. So isn’t it time the west’s middle classes asked why they’re footing the bill for everyone else’s gains?
Out on a limb: why blue-collar Americans see their future as precarious
America is immersed in a deep and troubling paradox. By most conventional measures, Americans have never had it so good. The economy is entering its fifth year of high growth and is close to achieving full employment
