America’s Middle Class: Including families making $250,000?

Guests: Bryce Covert, Carl Van Horn and Anat Shenker-Osorio 

Politicians toss around the words ‘middle class,’ but are they using the term correctly? We’ll talk about why some politicians include households that make up to $250,000 in the category ‘middle class,’ the state of middle class America today and whether it’s shrinking. We’ll be joined by BRYCE COVERT, Economic Policy Editor at ThinkProgress and a contributor at The Nation, to discuss her recent New York Times Op-ed on politicians and the middle class. Then we’ll step back and assess the economic status and outlook of America’s middle class with CARL VAN HORN, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and the founding Director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers. To get perspective on ‘Why Americans All Believe they are ‘Middle Class’ we’ll talk with author ANAT SHENKER-OSORIO about her research for an article in The Atlantic.