The Elimination of The Middle Class From Los Angeles

The L.A. Times reports on Dan Flaming,president of the Los Angeles-based Economic Roundtable:

For several years, Flaming has documented the loss of middle-class jobs in the region, as well as the rise of the lowpaying informal economy. Using 2004 data, Flaming found that 15% of households in the county earned less than $15,000 a year, accounting for 2% of the area's income. At the same time, 7% of households earned more than $150,000, accounting for 27% of the county's total income.

Households earning the median range, between $45,000 and $50,000, made up one of the smallest segments of the population, less than 5%. Flaming calls it the vanishing middle.

The story of Blue America.Unions,land use restrictions, and high taxes are the enemy of middle class life.