Mason, P., 2010. "America's new poor: The end of the middle-class dream". Available at: Link [Accessed October 14, 2010].
There are two things that struck me whilst reading this article.
- The same pattern is visible around me. People conforming to a higher standard of living than what they really can afford. The flashy lifestyles are often maintained by credit. It took America 30 years to reach the state they are in. Our credit act might have protected a lot of people from following the same trend, but the root cause of the problem is still there. “Keeping up with the Joneses and following the Madison avenue lifestyle”. There are of course major exceptions to this. In most cases loosing your job is not something that people ask for.
- The salary expectations of people. South Africans are pricing themselves out of the global market. Do a quick research on the salary expectations of South African jobs compared to similar jobs in Europe and the US. It is no surprise that some of our work is moving to lower cost centres in the world.
Reich, R., "Think getting tough with China will solve our jobs problem? Think again. - CSMonitor.com", September 19, 2010, Link
According to Prof Reich, the crisis in the American economy can be partly attributed to the stagnation of wages in the middle-class for the past 30 years. In this time-frame the bulk of economic wealth moved to the higher end of society. The middle-class then cut back on consumption resulting in massive job losses. The answer, according to Prof Reich, would be to rebalance the American economy to ensure that financial benefits are more widely spread.
I know the South-African context is completely different, but there are some things to ponder:
- Spread the economic wealth. More people will spend and work will be created. (Not just the rich in the consumption of “upper market” produce.)
- Take care and built the middle-class. They are the “consumption lungs” of the economy.
- Be wary of the impact that the “higher end of society” has on the economy over a long term. Especially if richness is gained at the expense of others!
John Hughes, “Can South Africa keep tapping World Cup spirit? - CSMonitor.com,” August 26, 2010, Link
There is nothing really new in this article, but it strikes me how "easy" solutions might look from the outside. Our problems will be solved when:
- crime is controlled
- upliftment has occurred and poverty has been reduced
- corruption is lessened
...and in the process we also need to manage:
- millions of needy people outside South Africa putting strain on our current infrastructure
- impact of world wide terrorism also impacting us
Now can any person or group supply only 2 serious and workable suggestions on solving just ONE of the items above? The suggestion must include a thorough thinking pattern on how it will influence the outlying contextual and transactional environments impacting the problem statement.
