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"workers made enough money to be able to buy Ford's cars, and this made Ford more successful." So, I assume today's middle class have to afford MORE than a 50

• bunderbunder 14y ago
  Today's middle class hasn't been affording stuff like that. They've been paying for them by cutting into their savings or going into debt. It's easy to say (and true) that they should quit spending beyond their means. However, that's problematic. If they quit buying that stuff, then it's going to harm American businesses, and the economy is going to go into a slump. (I realize my choice of tense is a little bit silly. Pretend that last sentence was written in 2007 and not 2012.)
• heretohelp 14y ago
  That's a nice straw man, but that's not the median for the US. Not even for bay area white collars is that reasonably the median, given how expensive houses are here. Most rent unless they're past 30-40 or won the startup lottery.
  • twoodfin 14y ago
    Huh? The median sufficiently-aged U.S. resident absolutely owns a home (home ownership rates are 65%+), and it's indisputable that the median home size has been growing at a good clip: http://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf http://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf
    • dllthomas 14y ago
      Parent was speaking of the Bay Area in the last sentence. Housing is much cheaper elsewhere.