Stuck in the Tunnel: Is Globalization Muddling the Middle Class?

Our objective in this paper is to assess how middle-income groups are faring with the global turn to the market. We suggest some simple measures of the middle-the size and income shares of households around the median (75/125%)-and their income status relative to wealthier counterparts. Our results point to genuine distributional stress for middle-income households, as well as public perceptions of such stress.

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