Per capita GDP is not calculated on averaging incomes or net worth. It is the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, converted at market exchange rates to current U.S. dollars, divided by the average (or mid-year) population for the same year.
Our standard of living is among the highest in the world, but it comes at a price. We are borrowing from future generations to continue a lifestyle that we can't afford. We are living beyond our means. In addition to over $17 trillion in the national debt, we have over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities in the form of our entitlement programs. Our standard of living will go down. The primary function of the USG is now wealth redistribution. The entitlement programs, other mandatories (means tested welfare programs), and debt servicing costs consume two-thirds of the federal budget. One out of every two households receives a check from the federal government. And government at all levels controls 40% of GDP--this is European welfare state level.
In effect, what has happened in the last 50 years is that the American middle class has largely disappeared -- by rising into the upper class. This does not mean that everyone is extremely wealthy, but when you look at how the "middle class" lives today you'll find that even the wealthiest people in the world couldn't live like that as recently as a few decades ago.
Nonsense. The middle class is descending into the lower class. The middle class is being destroyed for a number of reasons:
A. Many good paying jobs in manufacturing have been transferred abroad.
B. Real wages have been declining since 1969.
D. The importance of education and skills as related to wages and employment has increased.
E. The tax burden on the middle class has increased making it more difficult to move up the economic ladder.
The bottom line is that the destruction of the middle class will destroy the economy and reduce consumption of goods and services. We are taking on the profile of a third world country.