In developed economies the three things that used to be worth taking on consumer debt for: education, car and home, defined the middle class
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None of the 3 is worth the debt anymore. Especially with rising deflation risk. There is no middle class without lifespan-scale debt.
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I used to think upper and lower classes were defined by voluntary and involuntary risk taking respectively, middle class by risk aversion.
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Now I think there's no such thing as a class defined by risk aversion since no other class would cover for such a class.
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What actually happens in the name of middle-class "security" is that their share of societal risk exposure is converted to long-term debt
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This is a terrible idea, since in the conversion from risk to long-term debt, thinking is shut down. Rest of society has to think harder
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The abdicated thinking share of the middle class used to translate to power for the upper class which was happy to take on moral hazard
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This abdication+moral hazard equation mediated by debt is no longer sustainable. More brains needed online, directly engaged in risk.
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Rich would certainly like to continue managing risks for all, but even if they were saints, the world is now too complex for 1% to manage
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Econ grand challenge: Get former middle class new skin in the societal game at "car+college+home debt" level, but not as sleeping partners
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