Earning Power And The American Dream

U.S. families have carried the economy during this last 5-year growth cycle, but for most of us, we have not participated in it. A significant portion of this growth has come from liquidity (cheap debt) and from developing foreign markets. Our biggest companies are growing overseas and shrinking here in the U.S., with the result bringing about a less than ideal situation for our future.

In the Christian Science Monitor article, American dream still burns bright for many – but results vary, and contributed to by Faye Bowers in Phoenix, Bill Frogameni in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Bina Venkataraman in Boston:

“Today, men in their 30s earn about $5,000 less in real terms than did their fathers' generation, according to Pew.”

“Today "there aren't the kind of jobs available you used to get with a high school education, and work yourself up," says Mr. Brockman. "Now you have to have training or experience to start – then you can work your way up from there."