The End of the Middle Class

The story of the destruction and (potential) rebirth of the middle class Bloomberg chief economist Joseph Brusuelas and top retail analyst Kristin Bentz take an objective and facts-based look at the real state of the U.S. economy and the reasons for the rapid deterioration of the all-important middle class. The End of the Middle Class goes far beyond conventional wisdom and misleading media narratives to explore the troubling realities of a weak employment market, high debt burdens, and a decline in real purchasing power for what was once a thriving middle class population. The path to recovery will be long and difficult, but the authors believe it is possible and they have created a roadmap for how to rebuild a thriving and productive middle class. The U.S. economy has changed in fundamental ways requiring an adjustment that will take years to complete. The growth model that relied on easy credit and overconsumption that defined the years prior to the Great Recession of 2007-2009 has given way to a model driven by energy, technology and manufacturing. Some of the long-term solutions the authors advocate for middle class recovery include: * Selling 50 year Treasury bonds exclusively devoted to infrastructure rebuilding * Encouraging domestic development and export of crude oil and liquefied natural gas * Investment in targeted workforce re-training in technology, energy, and manufacturing * Foreign investment in factories near cheap sources of North American energy The End of the Middle Class gives readers a complete understanding of the new normal for the middle class and the fundamental changes that will be necessary to restore the economy's most important growth engine.