The Hourglass Society Analysis

The United States economy is constantly changing; however, since as early as 1956 the bulge of the middle class has seemed to be steadily disappearing. Supporting the idea that the United States society has taken on the shape of a distorted hourglass. In Stewart Lansley’s article, “The Hourglass Society,” he writes about how the United States society has a growing gap between the rich and the poor; furthermore, causing an increase in inequality among the different social classes. Lansley makes the statement, “One of the most significant effects of America’s hourglass society has been the capping of opportunities and the emergence of downward mobility amongst the middle classes”. This statement shows the unfairness that the middle classes

Within the article, “The Hour Glass Society” Lansley uses multiple sources to help him explain his topic (a shrinking middle class) to an audience of economists and those who are interested in the American economy and society. With the use of quotes by: C. Wright Mills, Professor Alan Krueger, The Washington Post, Ludwig von Mises, Arthur Okun, President Obama, and Robert E. Lucas, Lansley is able to support his argument to the fullest. Lansley stated, “One of the most significant effects of America’s hourglass society has been the capping of opportunities and the emergence of downward mobility amongst the middle classes” this statement was used to bring out emotion to show the audience that there are citizens out there who cannot achieve the American Dream because the opportunity was taken from the middle classes. When “A quarter of the American workforce end up in low—paid jobs, the highest rate across rich nations, while the wealthiest 400 Americans have the same combined wealth as the poorest half — over 150 million people.”, the United States needs to open it’s eyes and see why this is the wrong choice in economy and

Throughout “The Hourglass Society,” Lansley writes about how different the United States economy and society are from the 1900’s. I believe Lansley is trying to use the examples in “The Hourglass Society” to make his readers better understand what the United States has become. The shape (“a contorted hourglass”) the United States has taken on basically says it all. In 1956, “C. Wright Mills, wrote that American society had become ‘less a pyramid with a flat base than a fat diamond with a bulging middle’”. Mills making this statement in 1956 shows just how long the United States has had to change its economy and society. President Obama’s chairman of Council of Economic Advisers (Professor Alan Krueger) “Has shown how the size of the American middle class (households with annual incomes within 50 percent of the midpoint of the income distribution) has been heading backwards from a peak of more than a half in the late 1970s to 40 percent now”. This decrease makes the American Dream look more like a myth, than a possibility for the American citizens living under the poverty