The US Dual Economy: Trending Toward the Periphery

Image by Nohe Pereira.

Over the past forty-five years the United States has experienced deepening economic divisions between the rich and poor. The effects of this division are similar to those in developing nations. Economists such as, Jared Bernstein, Paul Krugman and Paul Stiglitz argue that the major cause of this division is the result of the United States becoming a debtor nation. This is directly linked to capital flight, deindustrialization, lack of infrastructure investment, and the militarization of the economy.