Should-Read: Simon Johnson: The Politics of Job Polarization

Should-Read: Simon Johnson: The Politics of Job Polarization: “Highly educated people at the top of the income distribution are doing better than ever…

…people with only a high school education face declining incomes, living standards, and prospects for themselves and their children. The middle class is being torn apart…. Many middle-skill, middle-income, middle-class jobs have disappeared. The new jobs that have emerged are well paid for highly educated people and poorly paid for people who have only a high school education. A leading symptom–but only a symptom–is the disappearance of well-paid factory jobs…. This technology-driven trend has been compounded by the effects of decreased transportation and communication costs, making it cheaper to move goods over long distances… easier to move manufacturing activity overseas to lower-wage locations….

The Republicans[‘]… policies… lowering personal and corporate taxes…. Repeal of… health-care reform… financial deregulation… confrontational trade measures…. Given the role of technology in displacing workers, protectionism–tearing up trade agreements and imposing tariffs on Chinese and Mexican goods–won’t bring back high-paying manufacturing jobs, and Trump has no plan B…