[hugh3]

Is that true, or just oft-repeated political rhetoric? (Telling the middle class that they're being ripped off is, of course, a time-honoured political ploy.)

I'm sitting in the middle of the income curve right now, and it looks fine around here. In terms of income distribution the main effect of the recession has been to destroy wealth at the top end of the scale, since these are the folks who owned all the assets which are now performing poorly.