Stuff You Should Know The Middle Class: Canary in the Gold Mine
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Mar 31, 2026 How did the middle class become the go-to sign of a nation’s health, and why is it so hard to define? This dives into its rise from medieval Europe to postwar America, then tracks the long squeeze caused by deindustrialization, weaker unions, stagnant wages, and soaring costs. It also explores inequality, homeownership, and why Europe offers a different model of economic security.
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Why The Postwar Middle Class Expanded So Fast
- The U.S. middle class boomed after World War II through New Deal policy, wartime spending, strong unions, and rising wages.
- Chuck Bryant says some called this the Great Compression because taxes on the rich and constrained corporate power squeezed wealth levels closer together.
Why Owning A Home Defined Middle Class Security
- Homeownership became a core middle class engine because a house builds wealth and lets families pass that wealth to their children.
- Josh Clark links this to the one-income suburban model where one salary could support a home, car, kids, school, and a pension.
What Started Hollowing Out The Middle Class
- The middle class started weakening in the 1970s as postwar growth faded, foreign competition rose, manufacturing shrank, unions declined, and automation spread.
- Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant also blame neoliberal policies from Reagan onward, plus later bipartisan choices, for shifting power toward corporations and the rich.