Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 24

MODERN AGE

WINTER 2016

2008 and 2012, midwage occupations represented 60 percent of
jobs lost, but only 22 percent of jobs recovered. Meanwhile, lowerwage occupations accounted for only 21 percent of jobs lost, but
58 percent of jobs gained back. This downward mobility in terms
of job availabilities stems from current government policies. And
a widening income inequality is an inevitable result of downward
mobility. No government tax hikes or entitlement programs can
ever make up for this hollowing-out effect.
A social polarization between a small upper class, an eroding
middle class, and a large lower class will only intensify, predicts
libertarian economist Tyler Cowen in his book Average Is Over.
But contrary to such predicted trends, conservatives want to preserve the traditional American upward mobility to all income and
skill levels. Cowen's world is not the preferred world of conservatives-a world where the top 10 to 15 percent do very well, the
middle stagnates, and the bottom falls further behind. But this
is all premised on the fact that the middle and bottom will not
have sufficient education to advance. In the modern world, the
economic returns to job skills have increased, as have the penalties to the unskilled.
Conservatives need to recognize that a core challenge facing
America is not simply income inequality per se but rather wage
stagnation and a restriction of upward mobility. The problem is
a declining mobility from the bottom and a wage stagnation for
the middle class. The real issue is not income inequality but the
level of opportunity for economic mobility. A study published by
the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the widening income gap has not translated into a lowered economic
mobility-in fact, there is a 0.6 percent higher chance for a child
born in 1986 to move from the bottom 20 percent of household
24



Modern Age - Winter 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Modern Age - Winter 2016

Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover1
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover2
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 2
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 3
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 4
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 5
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 6
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 7
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 8
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 9
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 10
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 11
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 12
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 13
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 14
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 15
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 16
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 17
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 18
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 19
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 20
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 21
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 22
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 23
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 24
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 25
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 26
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 27
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 28
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 29
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 30
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 31
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 32
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 33
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 34
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 35
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 36
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 37
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 38
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 39
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 40
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 41
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 42
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 43
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 44
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 45
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 46
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 47
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 48
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 49
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 50
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 51
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 52
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 53
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 54
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 55
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 56
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 57
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 58
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 59
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 60
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 61
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 62
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 63
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 64
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 65
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 66
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 67
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 68
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 69
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 70
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 71
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 72
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 73
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 74
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 75
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 76
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 77
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 78
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 79
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 80
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 81
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 82
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 83
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 84
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 85
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 86
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 87
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 88
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 89
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 90
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 91
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 92
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 93
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 94
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 95
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 96
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 97
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 98
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 99
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 100
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 101
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 102
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 103
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 104
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 105
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 106
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 107
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 108
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 109
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 110
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 111
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 112
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 113
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 114
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 115
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 116
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 117
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 118
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 119
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 120
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 121
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 122
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 123
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 124
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 125
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 126
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 127
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 128
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 129
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 130
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 131
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 132
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 133
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 134
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 135
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 136
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 137
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 138
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 139
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 140
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 141
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 142
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 143
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 144
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 145
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 146
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 147
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 148
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 149
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 150
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 151
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 152
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 153
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 154
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 155
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 156
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 157
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 158
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 159
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 160
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover3
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2018winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014summer
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com