"Reich goes on to explain, “Once the middle class exhausted all its methods of maintaining spending in the face of flat or declining wages—with wives and mothers surging into paid work in the 1970s and 1980s, everyone putting in longer hours in the 1990s, and households falling deeper in debt before 2008—the middle class as a whole was unable to spend more.” As spending declines, the economy declines, and everything begins to fall apart. "

It is to be remembered that Henry Ford built the American economy by enabling the middle class to spend more.

David writes a good perspective on the current US economic system. Robert Reich certainly has his own views of what causes the economic disparities as well as his preferred approach for lessening the burden on the middle class. My perspective takes a more proactive approach for those who are struggling in the middle class. Yes, the manufacturing jobs have gone elsewhere because other populations are willing to work for less to do the same jobs. Forcing salaries and prices up through Unions does not make sense to me. Consumers will simply continue to flock to WalMart where they can buy goods made in China, India, Thailand, etc. In a global society, we need to compete as individuals, not as governments. Decisions to buy are individual. If we could force people to buy American, then Unions might be an answer. Businesses cannot stay in business paying their US workers what they need to live under US life style expectations. US citizens need to discipline ourselves to learn the new skills that bring in higher wages. David is right - this is a system with checks and balances. Reich is suggesting some pretty serious tampering.