Thanks for clarifying that. I will agree that middle class staying middle class is not exactly a bad thing. The standards of living are certainly higher for all classes that they were in past times. However, the problem is where the bottom 20% have virtually no chance to escape the bottom 20%, and their children remain in that bottom 20%. Poor schools, poor transportation, poor employment prospects all combine with poor parenting and poor choices to doom the majority of this group into a permanent status of have-nots.

By the definition below, is the U.S. a free market? We may have more of a free market than some countries, but I am convinced that without regulations, simplistic greed would drive corporations to exploit workers anyway they can. Companies continue to exploit both employees and consumers, and continue to break the few laws there are in the hopes of not getting caught. The trick is determining which regulations are good for the country and which are good for the privileged few.


free market

-noun
an economic system in which prices and wages are determined by unrestricted competition between businesses, without government regulation or fear of monopolies.