There are some left, but those middle positions are 1) no longer safe in the way they were once perceived to be and 2) vanishing faster all the time. The trend

There are some left, but those middle positions are 1) no longer safe in the way they were once perceived to be and 2) vanishing faster all the time. The trend shows that "hollowing out" has been occurring for quite a while: http://economics.mit.edu/files/5554 http://economics.mit.edu/files/5554 http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2011/04/27/how-do-you-fix-the-hollowing-out-of-the-middle-class/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2011/04/27/how-do-yo... http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/28/how-the-recession-turned-middle-class-jobs-into-low-wage-jobs/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/28/ho... http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/09/the-hollowing-out-of-americas-middle-class/62330/ http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/09/the-holl... The choice is more between "member of various elite / professional jobs" and "Starbucks"; there is no exaggeration.