Michael R. Strain

This is a (short! yay!) argument about how the American Dream (largely cast in economic and income/wealth mobility ways) is not dead. Basically, while the middle class has been hollowing out, more people have been moving up than down, and people in the lower quartile of income do move up at rates substantially beyond randomness.

The author recognizes there are some substantial pockets which are having serious problems (rural areas with opioid epidemic, a subset of black people, etc), and that there is increasing male uneducated unemployment, but makes the case that these are exceptions and not the general rule.

He does a pretty good job of presenting good counter-arguments from others as well.… (mehr)