Some believe that the American economy was more egalitarian between the end of WWII and the 1970s or that gains were shared more equally. I think there is some truth to this claim. But I disagree with the version that says the middle class has stagnated since the 1970s. But here’s an even stronger claim from Joe Klein:
It is also good to remember that America’s most prosperous time — the period from the 1950s to the ’70s — was also when its trade-union movement and its middle class were strongest.
Uh, no. The average person in America lives much better today than the average person in 1950 on so many dimensions. The 1950s and 1960’s and 1970s were much less prosperous.
