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Victoria Ryder Period: 3 Honors American Studies: Current Event February 23, 2012 Economic Transformations Summary The economy is always moving all over the place. Some years the economy is improving and other times is is doing the opposite. This is due to the fact that the American people have increases and decreases in their yearly earnings. The economy is sensitive and even the slightest changes can alter it for good or bad. As long as the American people's yearly earnings fluctuate, the economy will also continue to fluctuate (Angle). There are many arguments in the government that involve the effects of the middle class and the high classes. For example, some politicians think that the high class Americans get higher incomes, but this causes the middle class to have lower incomes (Angle). Other government officials feel the opposite way. The officials feel that there is no connection between the classes, and that they are only effected by the people in their own classes. Each side of the argument has slight proof of their reasoning, but there is nothing substantial that would fully prove or disapprove one way or another. Relevance In the eighteen hundreds (1800's) the upper class was dominant over the middle and lower classes (Social). You had more rich families working rather than the lower classes. This was because most of the lower class was made up of minorities, and it was harder for them to get decent paying jobs (many of them could not get jobs at all). As the nineteen hundreds (1900's) progressed equality laws were passed and the minorities were now able to get jobs, even though most of them were low paying. During this time there was a dramatic increase in the middle class, and because they spent their lives working, they became known as the working class. The rise of the working class showed the strength that the people were beginning to obtain. Eventually the middle/working class became strong and formed unions. At the end of the nineteen hundreds the middle class dominated over the high class Americans because of their hard work and their numbers. Relation to theme The social classes of America represent America's economy, and the past hundreds of years have shown economic transformations. The economy is effected by social classes because of the variation in wages. Power shifted from the high class to the middle class, and it now shifts back and forth. Although, it seems the middle class seems to remain slightly stronger than the upper class. Questions 1. How much of an effect does the lower class have on American's today?; 2. How much research is being conducted in order to determine where the power of the classes lies today? 3. How easily are politicians swayed on their opinions on the economy and social classes? 4. Does the government have play a role in the social classes?

Bibliography Angle, Jim. "ANALYSIS: Obama Administration Bemoans Falling Incomes, but Studies Show Economic Mobility Alive." //Fox News //. FOX News Network, 06 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. .

"Social Class in American History." //Wikipedia //. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. .