You've probably read somewhere on our website by now - how we think the story of "Doo Wop" in Wildwood, New Jersey is the story of changing working & middle-class fortunes & feelings in America since the post-war boom era of the 1950s & 60s, through the transitional (and globalizing) years of the 1980s & 90s, to the era of zero interest rates, money printing, debt bubbles, and bailouts we've been living in since the 2000s began (save for a few token interest rate hikes over the past few months in 2022 - we'll see where that takes us).

Much can be discussed & debated on what happened to the "American Middle Class" - once a bastion of prosperity, optimism, and belief in a better tomorrow - but one thing seems certain - we're not the only ones discussing it. Every day, lately, it seems there's a new article, news segment, or opinion piece that speaks to the declining fortunes, hopes, and dreams of what we once called the "middle class". Enter the era of stagnation, pessimism, and hope that tomorrow never gets here (because then I might have to pay back all that debt I've been taking on just to survive).

Here are just a few articles worth checking out for starters, if you're still not sure what we're talking about - and there's more where these came from. Make of it all what you will. For our part, in Doowopolis, we still have hope in that better, brighter tomorrow - because someone's got to keep the hope alive!

The Ballad of Downward Mobility
I didn’t quit on the American dream; it quit on me—and my generation. Now we need a different idea of the good life.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/downward-economic-mobility-boomer-generation-x-debt/671260/

How the middle class became downwardly mobile
'Nowadays bank managers, teachers and lawyers can find themselves living in their childhood bedrooms'
https://www.ft.com/content/9101fc2c-c342-4a3b-897a-26c44e6c10cc

The rise of downward mobility
It’s an axiom among many Americans that each future generation will live better than its predecessor. New technologies, greater efficiencies and a can-do spirit will reward us with higher living standards.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/upward-mobility-is-a-myth/2018/08/05/bb960ce4-972c-11e8-80e1-00e80e1fdf43_story.html

Downward mobility: Where middle-class kids are worse off than their parents
This week, a team of economists led by Raj Chetty of Harvard University released a massive new data set on prosperity at the neighborhood level in the United States.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/02/downward-mobility-where-middle-class-kids-are-worse-off-than-their-parents/