Hartford Courant Explores Ramifications of Income Gap

The Hartford Courant ran an extensive article today discussing the ramifications of incom inequality: Income Gap Separating Wealthy From Middle And Lower Class Virtually Unchanged In The State. The ideas explored in It Could Happen Here were a central focus of the article:

This article includes this discussion from my interview with the Mark Spencer, the story’s reporter:

“While the rich are doing relatively less well, the poor and the middle class are suffering more,” said Bruce Judson, a senior faculty fellow at the Yale School of Management.

Judson said the latest figures underscore the tenacity of the income gap. The upper end of the income scale could be even higher, he said, since the census tends to under-report the income of the wealthy for several reasons, including not counting capital gains as income.

Judson said that the disparity — the gap in Connecticut is the second-largest in the country — means that the poor face an ever-steeper climb to improve their standing while the middle class struggles to maintain its standard of living.

“If the middle class disappears and we become a nation of have and have nots, history tells us we are likely to become politically unstable,” said Judson, whose book on the topic, “It Could Happen Here: America on the Brink,” is being released today by HarperCollins.”