But the chart below, from the Pew Research Center, suggests when the free marketers rule the only thing that trickles down is pain.

There's no need for additional comment on this chart, because the years that correspond to pain and suffering are grossly apparent from a historical perspective.

3) I think you'll agree that, usually, any discussion of the American middle class is missing a key ingredient – what defines middle class?

Because it's sometimes hard to tell who is middle class – or who considers themselves middle class.  It's often difficult to judge how well or poorly the middle class is doing. For the most part, however, I think it's fair to assume that middle class is just as much a state of mind as it is socioeconomic strata.

Now, there's near-universal agreement that the gap in wealth between the richest American and the poorest is widening to levels not seen in nearly a century.

But again, that doesn't tell you much about how those in the middle are faring or the real and perceived sources of anxiety for those who aspire to a "comfortable" middle-class life.

Based on 2005 Census Bureau reports, some 40% of the 115 million households in the US earned less than $36,000 a year. That represented just 12% of all income.

The 40% on the next rung up the economic ladder earned between $36,001 and $91,705 — or about 37.6% of all income.

The top 20%, who made $91,705 or more, collected half of all income.

What's interesting is that the Census Bureau survey found that while most people consider a $40,000-a-year salary to be the low end of what it takes to live a middle-class life, some people who make as much as $200,000 a year still consider themselves middle class.
 
But that's only part of the story, because as you know the cost of maintaining a middle-class lifestyle depends heavily on where you live.

A family in Wichita, Kansas, where the median price for an existing home is about $110,000, has a much better shot at a comfortable middle-class life than a family in San Francisco where – despite the housing slump – the median home price is in the neighborhood north of $750,000.

4) It is this gaping disparity in the notion of middle class that makes any broad assumptions futile.

And, while nothing can lessen the pain of layoffs at any income level, it's safe to assume that the lower ends of the American middle class are, overall, the most vulnerable during a serious economic downturn.

That's likely why David Brooks' piece in Monday's New York Times was one of the week's most read non-partisan think pieces.