What does middle class mean?
“The most perfect political community must be amongst those who are in the middle rank, and those states are best instituted wherein these are a larger and more respectable part, if possible, than both the other; or, if that cannot be, at least than either of them separate.” – Aristotle
– Aristotle
These arguments below speak to the different ways the strength of the middle class affect economic growth and stability:
- A strong middle class promotes the development of human capital and a well educated population.
- A strong middle class creates a stable source of demand for goods and services.
- A strong middle class incubates the next generation of entrepreneurs.
- A strong middle class supports inclusive political and economic institutions, which underpin economic growth.
- Historically, middle class has brought around all the revolutions, and brought changes for the better.
- Middle class is usually a healthy section of the society, where physical and mental abilities of the society usually peak.
To sum up, a strong middle class is a prerequisite for robust entrepreneurship and innovation, a source of trust that makes business transactions more efficient, a bulwark against credit booms and busts and a progenitor of virtuous, forward-looking behaviors, such as valuing education. Moreover, middle class spending usually creates the most prominent multi-layered economic multiplier effect, since most of such spending would trickle down many levels.
“I have to live for others and not for myself: that’s middle-class morality.”
– George Bernard Shaw