The key is contraction and shift.

Contraction because the economy is smaller than it was.

Shift because the dynamics have been worked so that the core -financials, professionals - will be making about as much as before, the difference being made up y the middle class and lower making less.

this is a "jobless recovery" or, as the financial types like to say "recovery".

Poltics and the media are caught in this loop. So it is hard to get critical thought.

the real issue is how passive the population will be. Is a 2009 revolt  possible?