Middle Class Series

In this series

Michigan ‘Right-to-Work’ Bill Is the Wrong Economics for the Middle Class
If Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signs so-called right-to-work legislation, it will significantly hurt workers, the middle class, and the economy in general. (AP/Carlos Osorio)
Report

Michigan ‘Right-to-Work’ Bill Is the Wrong Economics for the Middle Class

So-called right-to-work legislation will make it harder for unions to do their job: improving wages and working conditions. That, in turn, will weaken the middle class, which will lower our nation’s economic competitiveness.

Adam Hersh, Heather Boushey, David Madland

How to Slide Down the ‘Great Gatsby Curve’
A group of students walks into an auditorium to attend University of Connecticut's 2012 graduation ceremonies. College education rates, among other factors laid out in this report, are signs of economic mobility and opportunity. (AP/Jessica Hill)
Report

How to Slide Down the ‘Great Gatsby Curve’

Higher income inequality leads to less economic mobility and fewer opportunities for future generations, according to new research on the Great Gatsby Curve.

Miles Corak

Why President Obama’s Victory Is a Victory for the Middle Class
Article

Why President Obama’s Victory Is a Victory for the Middle Class

The president’s re-election means voters have agreed with the idea that an economy that works for everyone and that is built from the “middle out” is the correct path for our country.

Gadi Dechter

Making Saving for Retirement Easier, Cheaper, and More Secure
Allowing workers to enroll in either a collective defined-contribution plan or a Thrift Savings Plan would ensure all Americans have access to a quality retirement plan, significantly boosting savings and security while at the same time helping to ensure workers can retire with dignity. (AP)
Report

Making Saving for Retirement Easier, Cheaper, and More Secure

Allowing workers to enroll in either a collective defined-contribution plan or a Thrift Savings Plan would ensure all Americans have access to a quality retirement plan, significantly boosting savings and security while at the same time helping to ensure workers can retire with dignity.

David Madland

About the Middle Class Project at the Center for American Progress
Article

About the Middle Class Project at the Center for American Progress

This series lays the intellectual groundwork for the middle class as the engine of American economic growth and refutes the false notion that supply-side economics works in theory or practice.

Gadi Dechter

Video: Once Upon a Trickle Down
Video

Video: Once Upon a Trickle Down

The Center for American Progress and cartoonist Mark Fiore explain why a strong middle class is critical for robust economic growth.

the Center for American Progress, Mark Fiore

Making Our Middle Class Stronger
Report

Making Our Middle Class Stronger

Report from David Madland presents 35 policies that would help address the challenges Americans face in achieving and maintaining a middle-class standard of living.

David Madland

The Failure of Supply-Side Economics
When President Bill Clinton, pictured here addressing the nation in 1993, raised taxes that same year did the economy suffer a slowdown, as was predicted by those who believe in supply-side economics? The data says no. (AP/Greg Gibson)
Article

The Failure of Supply-Side Economics

Michael Ettlinger and Michael Linden give three decades' worth of evidence that proves supply-side economics doesn't work.

Michael Ettlinger, Michael Linden

The Middle Class and Economic Growth
For our country to succeed going forward, we need to get back to the  fundamental truth that our success hinges on the strength of the middle  class. (iStockphoto)
Article

The Middle Class and Economic Growth

CAP's Middle Class and Economic Growth project looks to provide a better understanding of the relationship between middle-class strength and the nation’s economic health.

Michael Ettlinger

Prosperity and Politics
In the News

Prosperity and Politics

Heather Boushey reviews Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson's recent book, Why Nations Fail.

Dissent

Heather Boushey

The Federal Tax Code and Income Inequality
Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) tax proposal would do far less to reduce income inequality than the current tax system does. (AP/Steven Senne)
Report

The Federal Tax Code and Income Inequality

Michael Linden examines how our tax code has grown less effective at dampening income inequality, and how various proposals to reform the code would affect inequality.

Michael Linden

The Origins of Prosperity
Article

The Origins of Prosperity

Daron Acemoglu and his co-author spoke at the Center for American Progress last week about why nations fail.

Ties that Bind
Article

Ties that Bind

David Madland and Nick Bunker explain why rebuilding the American middle class is an important step toward rebuilding America’s infrastructure.

David Madland, Nick Bunker

Rebuilding Our Middle Class
President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, January 24, 2012. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
Article

Rebuilding Our Middle Class

Gadi Dechter and Michael Ettlinger analyze the president’s forceful defense of the middle class as our economy’s engine of economic growth and prosperity.

Gadi Dechter, Michael Ettlinger

The Top 10 Middle-Class Acts of Congress
El presidente Lyndon Johnson firma el Acta de Derechos Civiles (CRA por sus siglas en ingles) en el Salón Este de la Casa Blanca en Washington, el 2 de julio, 1964. El CRA, junto con la Ley de Seguro Social y la Ley de Educación Superior, fueron leyes claves para la clase media. (AP)
Article

The Top 10 Middle-Class Acts of Congress

Congress would do well to reflect on passage of key middle-class legislation as it considers how to strengthen our economy, writes Nick Bunker.

Nick Bunker

President Obama’s Bridge to a Better Economy
President Barack Obama speaks about the economy, Tuesday, December 6, 2011, at Osawatomie High School in Osawatomie, Kansas. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
Article

President Obama’s Bridge to a Better Economy

Michael Ettlinger details the two policy threads that define the president’s approach toward immediate but also sustainable economic recovery in 2012.

Michael Ettlinger

Hard Work Should Pay Off
In the News

Hard Work Should Pay Off

Heather Boushey argues for work-life policies in The New York Times's "Room for Debate."

The New York Times

Heather Boushey

A Strong Middle Class Is Key to Getting Our Economy Moving
President Barack Obama speaks about the economy, Tuesday, December 6, 2011, at Osawatomie High School in Osawatomie, Kansas. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
Article

A Strong Middle Class Is Key to Getting Our Economy Moving

Michael Ettlinger explains why a growing and prosperous middle class was and is the prerequisite to strong and sustainable economic growth.

Michael Ettlinger

Economic Inequality Is Not Sustainable
Article

Economic Inequality Is Not Sustainable

Heather Boushey examines why growing income inequality helped boost the wealth of the few and how reversing course is imperative to our nation’s economic well-being.

Heather Boushey

The Middle Class Is Key to a Better-Educated Nation
Article

The Middle Class Is Key to a Better-Educated Nation

Examining test scores in all 50 states, David Madland and Nick Bunker find that a stronger American middle class is associated with higher levels of academic achievement.

David Madland, Nick Bunker

The Legitimate Gripes of the Other 99 Percent
Manifestantes de Ocupar Wall Street marchan hacia Zuccotti Park en el Distrito Financiero de Nueva York el 5 de octubre, 2011. (AP/Jason DeCrow)
Article

The Legitimate Gripes of the Other 99 Percent

Gadi Dechter mines the diverse voices of the 99 Percent Movement and finds it united against mounting inequality, shrinking mobility, an unfair tax code, democracy corrupted by money, and bailouts for the rich without protections for the middle class.

Gadi Dechter

Growth and the Middle Class
In the News

Growth and the Middle Class

David Madland explains how a strong middle class is the key to economic growth in Democracy Journal.

Democracy Journal

David Madland

Rebuilding America
President Barack Obama speaks about building energy efficiency at Rec Hall on the Penn State University campus in State College, PA, on February 3, 2011. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
Article

Rebuilding America

Bracken Hendricks applauds new program that will enable American building owners to save $40 billion a year through energy efficiency retrofits while putting thousands of Americans back to work.

Bracken Hendricks