The End of the Middle Class?

The growing concentrations of the super-wealthy in America contrast sharply with the erosion of the middle class. It is time for a new set of rules to protect ordinary Americans, writes Elizabeth Warren.

1 minute read

December 8, 2009, 8:00 AM PST

By Michael Dudley

Playing by the "rules" no longer works, argues Warren. Getting a college degree and working hard now means living paycheck-to-paycheck and facing the risk of foreclosure:

"Today, one in five Americans is unemployed, underemployed or just plain out of work. One in nine families can't make the minimum payment on their credit cards. One in eight mortgages is in default or foreclosure. One in eight Americans is on food stamps. More than 120,000 families are filing for bankruptcy every month. The economic crisis has wiped more than $5 trillion from pensions and savings, has left family balance sheets upside down, and threatens to put ten million homeowners out on the street."

The answer, Warren suggests, may lie in the Obama Administration's proposal for a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).

FULL STORY: America Without a Middle Class

Thursday, December 3, 2009 in Huffington Post

Community / Economic Development United States Social planning Middle Class

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