oldfart
Older than dirt
One of the takeaways of reading Piketty's book is an appreciation of how definitions of economic classes has changed over time and how these definitions depend on the measures used (income, wealth, or social status). A century ago it was commonly accepted that in developed economies there were basically five classes. At the lowest by all measures was the poor. They had limited income and virtually no wealth, experienced lowest standard of living, and usually had no regular dependable employment. Next up the scale was the working class which was differentiated from the poor by the fact that they were dependably employed and enjoyed a modest but sufficient standard of living. The working class was made up of the upper levels of agricultural labor, industrial workers, clerks, semi-skilled craftsmen, and lower levels of tradesmen.
The middle class consisted of the proverbial shopkeepers, skilled artisans, upper levels of tradesmen, professionals such as doctors and lawyers, and the middle level of government employees. Many of the middle class were affluent enough to have domestic employees. The upper class was really two classes: one based on inherited wealth which subsisted on the income of either land or government bonds (the rentier class) and a class that received its income from successful business enterprise, either commercial which dominated in the earlier periods, or industrial which came to dominate later.
If we look at the century between the Napoleonic Wars and the advent of WWI, and label the classes based on living standards of today; the poor would be those with less than $15,000 a year of income and no net wealth, the working class (which Americans consider part of the middle class) would have incomes of $15,000 to $50,000 almost entirely from labor, the middle class would have incomes of from $20,000 to $250,000 or so based on labor and self-employment income, the rentiers would have income of $50,000 and up based mostly on investments, and the business upper class would have incomes from $250,000 on up based on income from enterprise. Of course, the boundaries would be very fuzzy.
So my questions are:
1. Have we left anything significant out?
2. What do you consider the income/wealth/social status boundaries of the middle class to be?
3. Is there a separate working class, or is it merely a part of the middle class?
4. Is it useful to make distinctions about the sources of income and status of individuals at the very top?
The middle class consisted of the proverbial shopkeepers, skilled artisans, upper levels of tradesmen, professionals such as doctors and lawyers, and the middle level of government employees. Many of the middle class were affluent enough to have domestic employees. The upper class was really two classes: one based on inherited wealth which subsisted on the income of either land or government bonds (the rentier class) and a class that received its income from successful business enterprise, either commercial which dominated in the earlier periods, or industrial which came to dominate later.
If we look at the century between the Napoleonic Wars and the advent of WWI, and label the classes based on living standards of today; the poor would be those with less than $15,000 a year of income and no net wealth, the working class (which Americans consider part of the middle class) would have incomes of $15,000 to $50,000 almost entirely from labor, the middle class would have incomes of from $20,000 to $250,000 or so based on labor and self-employment income, the rentiers would have income of $50,000 and up based mostly on investments, and the business upper class would have incomes from $250,000 on up based on income from enterprise. Of course, the boundaries would be very fuzzy.
So my questions are:
1. Have we left anything significant out?
2. What do you consider the income/wealth/social status boundaries of the middle class to be?
3. Is there a separate working class, or is it merely a part of the middle class?
4. Is it useful to make distinctions about the sources of income and status of individuals at the very top?
