What caused the shrinking of the middle class?

There are a multitude of things that caused the shrinking of the middle class, from new technologies to globalization. In more detail, here are the top reasons why the middle class has gotten smaller:

• New Technology. New technologies like the internet have fundamentally changed lives, and have also reduced the size of the middle class. Those who create new technologies have become much richer, while the jobs they produce tend to be low-income. This creates an imbalance not suited for growing the middle class.

• Lack of Unions. In the past, unions held a lot of power in ensuring employees were compensated fairly. Today, however, the lack of unions means that jobs that once supported a middle-class lifestyle are no longer required.

• Globalization. The influx of products from overseas has made it difficult for Americans to compete with cheaper labor worldwide. This has caused an overall reduction of well-paying jobs and lopsided growth of the lower and upper-income brackets.