Document Type

Lecture

Publication Date

2-8-2017

Publisher

Brookings Mountain West

Abstract

This lecture blends economics, philosophy and policy analysis to examine the growing gap between the upper middle class (broadly the top 20 percent) and the majority of Americans. In terms of dollars, but also education and skills, social capital, health, lifestyle and leisure attitude and zip code - not just by standard of living, but a way of life. The inheritance of upper middle class status in the next generation results from a growing gap in human capital formation, or ‘market merit’, and from a degree of ‘opportunity hoarding’. What changes are required to ensure that the American Dream is not hoarded, but shared?

Keywords

economics; philosophy; policy analysis; upper middle class

Disciplines

Economics | Finance

File Format

PDF

File Size

1.964 KB

Streaming Media

Language

English

Comments

Richard Reeves is a 2016-2017 Brookings Scholar and senior fellow in Economic Studies.

This public lecture was delivered on February, 8 2017, in Greenspun Hall, on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

Downloadable files associated with this event are:

"Dream Hoarders: The Dangerous Separation of the American Upper Middle Class," video; mp4 format; 1 hour, 10 seconds; 81.6 MB file size.

"Dream Hoarders: The Dangerous Separation of the American Upper Middle Class," Powerpoint presentation

ReevesR_DreamHoarders_020282017.pdf (1963 kB)
PowerPoint Presentation


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