Very thorough, thought provoking article. It got me to thinking that there was/is a big difference between blue collar middle class and white collar middle class. Earned income and purchasing power at a given time can be equivalent, but opportunities for economic improvement are probably better for white collar middle class. Of course, sources of earned income are much more diverse today, and the ability to use one’s skills in different ways and develop and deploy new skills will be crucial to maintaining a decent standard of living. It just keeps getting harder, it seems.