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The middle class is shrinking and in Chicago it’s almost gone

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Re: The middle class is shrinking and in Chicago it’s almost gone

#41

Post by fiestaman »

rjf72 wrote: post #36

There is one very key issue here that is often overlooked. Here are two datums. The first [1] is Chicago community areas by per capita income. The second [2] is the same areas by fertility rate. There is an extremely strong correlation between these two datums. This holds everywhere from our world at large, to individual countries, to even community areas within an arbitrary city in the US. The areas with the lowest…

I feel like this has been the case for a long time, though, maybe forever. I recall the stereotype of the Irish Catholic family, for one.

Re: The middle class is shrinking and in Chicago it’s almost gone

#43

Post by SolarNet »

pmorici wrote: post #23

If the modern day poor are living an equivalent life style to the middle class from 50 years ago is that really a problem? That’s what part of this article seems to describe. Also would be interesting how much of this is attributable to the rise in prevalence of two income households. 2x a middle income would be considered wealthy by the measure used in this study

It is a problem, especially given the context of a startup accelerator. The middle class are the core of a modern economy. People with enough money to spend on luxuries. With enough money to support multiple competing luxury products in many different markets. With the financial security to change jobs and move. With the ability to acquire enough capital to pursue an education or their ideas (e.g. into new startups).

While people may be living equivalent lifestyles it's through the consolidation of core needs and improvements in efficiency (that were never passed onto workers as it happens, which is part of why the middle class is collapsing). But importantly these were applied to what used to be luxuries. If there is no one around to purchase the luxuries in bulk how will we will we ever innovate their production to a scale where they become cheap. If the market is not big enough to sustain competitors, how will we ever innovate on features. If people with ideas to change the world they live in don't have the capital to try it where does that hobbyist innovation come from.

I could go on and on, but the key fact is that the middle class are the primary consumers of everything. Additionally, nearly half of the tax burden is met by the middle class (with the other half being mostly corporate taxes). Suffice it to say the middle class is the linchpin to modern economies.

Re: The middle class is shrinking and in Chicago it’s almost gone

#44

Post by rjf72 »

sandworm101 wrote: post #35
jedmeyers wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicago has been overwhelmingly governed by the Democrats, yet they things you've listed are usually pushed by the Republicans. And people leaving are usually going to the majority Republican states and cities. How can you explain this phenomenon?

Chicago's problems are caused by things well beyond chicago. These local issues are driven by national choices. Elect all the best mayors you can, but America's economy is dominated by the national government, and to a lesser extent states. Chicago's problems will be solved when the nation breaks free of the ussual squabbles and opts to resolve social issues rather than scream dogma at each other.

I'm not sure whether I agree with you or not, but something I'd add to your point is that this is also a proxy for typical political ideologies. 'Small government' is specifically focused on reduction of the size of the federal government excepting a few national responsibilities including military. The point of this is to strengthen autonomy at a level closer to the people -- states, counties, and so on.

I don't really abide either side of the political spectrum, but I do find this point salient. Chicago's successes, and failures, should come as a result of decisions made in Chicago, and to a lesser degree the whole of Illinois. States being held subject to decisions, outside of a very small set of shared minimal norms, from a completely detached governing body that lives very much in a bubble in D.C. is just quite a peculiar system. Having 2% representation in e.g. the Senate does not, in my opinion, markedly change this. Probably made a lot more sense when we had 13 colonies and a hundredth the national population.

Re: The middle class is shrinking and in Chicago it’s almost gone

#45

Post by forrestthewoods »

> For UIC to consider a census tract middle income, the average per capita income there had to fall between $28,712 and $43,068.

What a hilariously narrow definition of “middle class”. That’s roughly $14.35 to $21.53 per hour.

This entire analysis is a waste of time.

Is the underlying data available? I’d love to take a crack at producing some better visualizations.

Re: The middle class is shrinking and in Chicago it’s almost gone

#46

Post by mongol »

jaabe wrote: post #29

How is the middle class in the US in general? This is completely anecdotal and based on random strangers on the internet, so it may be wrong, but Americans seem more careful with their money today than they did 15 years ago. I buy a lot of board games, and I’ve noticed how discussions on $100 kickstarters have started being about how it could break someone’s budget. I’m personally part of the Scandinavian middle clas…

Scandinavian middle class is not quite so uniform. Norweigian is considerably more wealthy than Swedish. I would guess Danish inbetween though closer to Swedish. I actually guess you are Norweigian!

Re: The middle class is shrinking and in Chicago it’s almost gone

#48

Post by jaabe »

mongol wrote: post #46
jaabe wrote: post #29

How is the middle class in the US in general? This is completely anecdotal and based on random strangers on the internet, so it may be wrong, but Americans seem more careful with their money today than they did 15 years ago. I buy a lot of board games, and I’ve noticed how discussions on $100 kickstarters have started being about how it could break someone’s budget. I’m personally part of the Scandinavian middle clas…

Scandinavian middle class is not quite so uniform. Norweigian is considerably more wealthy than Swedish. I would guess Danish inbetween though closer to Swedish. I actually guess you are Norweigian!

Norwegians are in a league of their own, that’s true, though it’s more their society that had money and not private citizens as such. They generally also have rather high prices on everything.

I’m Danish though.

Re: The middle class is shrinking and in Chicago it’s almost gone

#49

Post by Todd »

jaabe wrote: post #29

How is the middle class in the US in general? This is completely anecdotal and based on random strangers on the internet, so it may be wrong, but Americans seem more careful with their money today than they did 15 years ago. I buy a lot of board games, and I’ve noticed how discussions on $100 kickstarters have started being about how it could break someone’s budget. I’m personally part of the Scandinavian middle clas…

The article says:

In 1970, 61 percent of Americans belonged to the middle class, said Kochhar, “a clear majority.” Using Pew’s methodology, that figure now hovers around 50 percent nationally.

Re: The middle class is shrinking and in Chicago it’s almost gone

#50

Post by dclowd9901 »

thoruser1 wrote: post #47

Not only Chibongo, but the entire United States will become the capital of the third world. Thanks to you, neckbeard beta orbiters and your representatives: Alexandria Of-Color and Kamala Harris.

I can't begin to unravel what you're trying to get at, but the problem of a shrinking middle class is one of abject capitalism with no oversight, coupled with consumer credit availability and no proper social safety nets vis-a-vis single payer healthcare and free college. These are all well-documented cornerstones of countries with a thriving middle class (America, included).
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