The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite

by Michael Lind

Robert Shapiro argued in 2019 that much of the unexpected contraction in employment among native white Americans in recent years had been the result of direct competition of white workers who shared higher wage expectations with immigrants as well as members of minority groups willing to work for lower wages: A final critical reason why many employers are more inclined to hire Hispanics, Asians, and blacks than whites in this business cycle is the economics of wages. At every educational level, except people without high school degrees, whites’ wages are higher than the wages of blacks, Hispanics and, in some cases, Asians. There is a long history of immigrants and minorities working for less than others with the same education, sometimes willingly and often unwillingly. Italians, Poles, Eastern Europeans, and Irish, as well as blacks, did so a century ago. Apparently, that pattern has not changed a great deal.