You hear it every day. The middle class is gone. The middle class is shrinking.

While those headlines may sell newspapers and bring viewers closer to their TV screens the actual truth paints a much rosier picture.

Is The Middle Class Dying?

Anyone in the above picture in rags? Malnourished? Homeless?

As Mark Twain once said, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” It would appear the same message could apply to the death of the middle class.

The world is on the brink of a historic milestone: By 2020, more than half of the world’s population will be “middle class,” according to Brookings Institution scholar Homi Kharas.

Defining The Middle Class

Kharas defines the middle class as having enough money to have a roof over your head, food on the table, clothes on your back and a little left over each month for a few luxuries.

While a middle class family is not the same in Washington, D.C. as it is in Caracas, Venezuela more people around the globe are entering middle class incomes particular to their individual homeland.

Depending where you live on the planet and the cost of goods and services an income of $11 to $110 per day can put you in the middle class.

Kharas estimates that 140 million to 170 million people a year enter the middle class. A sizeable portion of the world’s population. To put it another way — half the population of the US moves to the middle class each year on a global basis.

Some Final Thoughts

Let’s take a moment and give capitalism a big pat on the back for bringing so much of the world’s populations out of poverty.

I think America is doing just fine. UNICEF is not going door to door. Bono hasn’t planned a SAVE THE MIDDLE CLASS concert in Central Park.

If you’re reading this, you have things your parents never dreamed of. Smart phone that can assess any info you need in seconds, cable TV for your big screen, Wi-Fi, video games, heated cup holders in your car, and a working laptop computer.

In the next two years the lives of half the people on this planet will be living a better life. I’m looking forward to the world finally being a better place. What say you?